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Rating:  - Absolutely great story of youth, commitment, integrity, and politics
This is one of my all-time favorite films. I recall seeing this as a student of international relations, absolutely fascinated that recent history - the end of Sukarno's regime in Indonesia - could actually form the backdrop of a film that portrays a personal and political dilemma to the viewer. It is not only a great romantic story, but also gets the viewer to think as well as learn about a historical period.
Guy, a young man eager to succeed in his only shot at a career as a foreign correspondent, appears in Jakarta during the heyday of non-alignment politics: neither capitalist not communist, but forging its own way with its one rhetoric. Though he arrives without contacts, one of whom appears to have sabotaged him by leaving without making introductions for him, he must make a go of it. To do so, he makes an unusual friend, a dwarf named Billy (played by the phenomenal Linda Hunt), who is the narrator of the story and brilliant observer while also handicapped as a person. Billy makes the connections for Guy, including an extraordinary beauty (Weaver) who works at the British Embassy. (Billy describes her as a person whose life force burns extremely bright, but who needs committed love to guard against falling into promiscuity and bitterness. It is a brilliant summation of character, one of many.) They become passionately involved as events unfold. I do not want to play the spoiler here, but a believable moral dilemma emerges during the political turmoil.
The characters in the film, in my viewing, are wonderfully three-dimensional and fascinating, from journalists to diplomats, spooks, revolutionaries, and the local people. You see extreme poverty and careers in the making, with disillusionment and hope all rolled into one. Through the film, the characters also evolve and grow, learning from their mistakes and illusions and tragedies. Of course, the romance is very hot, one of the best portrayals I have ever seen of that great youthful passion: perhaps not meant to survive, it provides a beacon for the rest of one's life. (There is a wonderful scene where they run a curfew roadblock, laughing as guards shoot at the car and kissing hungrily.) I was as moved to see this as I was 26 years ago, when I saw it with a girlfriend in Paris. The acting is uniformly excellent.
In addition, the historical context is accurately portrayed in spite of the fictional characters. While it might appear quaint to view communist revolutionaries in retrospect, the Cold War was very much alive at the time the film appeared. Underneath the events, you learn of the horrific consequences of under-development, upon which many of the characters piggyback their careers. The atmosphere comes alive vividly. I even allowed my son (9) to watch parts of this with me, explaining the violent politics and history to him.
I am very happy to own this film, and will watch it at least once a year. Perhaps it means so much to me because of the dreams of my youth, but I think that everyone can find things to enjoy in the complexity that the film portrays with such great success.
Warmly recommended.
Rating: - Impressed
I was worried, but it turned out to be a great movie. Arguably one of Mel Gibson's better performances.
Rating:  - The Year of Living Dangerously
Based on the book by C.J.(Christopher) Koch who studied with Wallace Stegner at Stanford's creative writing program as did Ken Kesey, Scott Turow, and Larry McMurtry, among others. Loosely based on the life of Koch's brother who was an Australian journalist based in Indonesia during the 1960's. Directed by Peter Weir; starring Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver.
Rating: - The amazing Linda Hunt
Different from Mad Max and all the rest of Gibson's apocolyptic movies, "The Year of Living Dangerously" is a wonderful period piece that really develops its characters. Linda Hunt is obviously the standout in this production and her "Billy" is really the unhearlded star of this film. There are a number of actors who could have portrayed Guy Hamilton as well or better than Gibson did and Sigourney Weaver's character is little more than "love interest". Having said that, Gibson's and Weaver's roles should not be marginalized; they both did an outstanding job but Linda Hunt simply carries this movie to a much higher level and I doubt many actors could have equalled her performance.
This is an outstanding movie that captures the essence of the oppresive time of Sukarno's Indonesia and the plight of the Indonesian people torn by two opposing political forces fighting for control of Southeast Asia.
This movie also features a haunting theme melody that apparently cannot be found on any soundtrack recording of the film. I have tried unsuccessfully. The music remains in your head long after the film has ended.
Rating: - The Year of Living Dangerously
I think everything about this film is great. The music, powerful and beautiful; the actors, the political statements, the relationships, everything. Who's more beautiful than early Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver? That's a passionate enough pairing, and then set in the dramatic backdrop of Jakarta in the mid-60's, political upheavals flaring at every turn, make for a very intense and engaging movie. What to speak of the musical score, I just had to go and buy the soundtrack right after I saw this. Linda Hunt is one of the most interesting characters I'd seen in a long time. I loved her in this. I felt, also, that this film brought home the fact of what individuals will sacrifice for their freedom, not only for themselves, but for their families, and country.
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