The Year of Living Dangerously

Director: Peter Weir

Overview

Mel Gibson stars in this period political thriller directed by Peter Weir. Set in Indonesia during the 1965 coup against President Sukarno, the film stars Gibson as Guy Hamilton, an Australian wire-service reporter covering the scene. Whenever Hamilton becomes too glib or indifferent for his own good, he is brought back to earth by his "conscience," photographer Billy Kwan (played in male drag by diminutive actress Linda Hunt, who won an Academy Award for her performance). As all of Jakarta sinks into disarray, Hamilton pursues a romance with British attaché Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver). Filmed on location in the Philippines and Australia, the film was financed by MGM, in the first such American-Australian financial collaboration.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/11/2014
UPC:	0888574003227
Original Release:	1982
Rating:	PG
Source:	Warner Brothers
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:55:00
Sales rank:	17,814

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Mel Gibson	Guy Hamilton
Sigourney Weaver	Jill
Linda Hunt	lly Kwan
Bill Kerr	Henderson
Bembol Roco	Kumar
Domingo Landicho	Hortono
Noel Ferrier	Wally O'Sullivan
Paul Sonkkila	Kevin Condon
Ali Nur	Ali
Hermono De Guzman	Immigration Officer
Dominador Robridillo	Betjak Man
Joel Agona	Palace Guard
Mike Emperio	President Sukarno
Bernardo Nacilla	Dwarf
Kuh Ledesma	Tiger Lily
Coco Marantha	Pool Waiter
Norma Uatuhan	Ibu
Lito Tolentino	Udin
Cecily Polson	Moira
David Oyang	Hadji
Mark Egerton	Embassy Aide
Joonee Gamboa	Naval Officer
Pudji Waseso	Officer in Cafe
Jabo Djohansjan	Doctor
Agus Widjaja	Roadblock Soldier
Chris Quivak	Airport Official
Joel Lamangan	Security Man
Mario Layco	Security Man
Maurice Jarre	Composer
Michael Murphy	Actor
Peter Weir	Actor

Technical Credits

Peter Weir

David Williamson

Christopher Koch

Peter Weir	Director,Screenwriter
David Williamson	Screenwriter
James McElroy	Producer,Producer
Christopher Koch	Screenwriter
Peter Fenton	Sound Effects
Phil Heywood	Sound Effects
Louise Innes	Sound Effects
Spencer Lee	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

It would be wrong to say that The Year of Living Dangerously made stars of Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver; it solidified their stardom and also showed them to be fine actors. As Guy Hamilton, a young Australian radio journalist on the make, Gibson shows soul behind a pretty-boy face and magnetic eyes. His Hamilton is all modern ambition and quick answers until he runs into what director Peter Weir portrays best: the collision between new and old societies. Gibson's greatest success comes when Hamilton endures the pain of deciding whether to air a story that would expose British attaché Jill Bryant (Weaver) as his source. His pain is compelling; in later roles (particularly the Lethal Weapon series), Gibson undergoes torture to achieve the same effect, a pattern that repeats itself in almost all of his successive roles. Weir portrays the Indonesia of 1965 as a place where Western blandishments ring especially hollow against the poverty, misery, and oddly spiritual life. He uses an unearthly score and bright, contrasty colors (especially the blue shirt Gibson usually wears) in the glittery, sterile palaces of the Sukarno regime to contrast with the dirt and darkness of Indonesia's poverty. And in Linda Hunt's Academy Award-winning performance as photographer Billy Kwan, Weir has a great voice for the despair that the poverty engenders. But the movie's grasp of Southeast Asian politics isn't as strong as the romance between Gibson's and Weaver's characters. As in Weir's later Witness, the romance stays in mind long after the civics lesson has faded.

All Movie Guide