Myron Clemons
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
SnoopyStyle
It's 1965 Jakarta in Indonesia under the brutal rule of President Sukarno. Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson) is on his first foreign assignment for the Australian Broadcasting Service. He is befriended by photographer half-Chinese dwarf Billy Kwan (Linda Hunt). There is an air of anti-western feeling. Guy is lost without connections until Billy starts helping him out. He has an affair with British diplomat Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver). It's a world of murky Cold War politics, secrets and trying morality.This has a great exotic atmosphere. The movie has a sense of impending doom. Mel Gibson is terrific and shows his superior star power. Linda Hunt creates such a compelling character. It does need to heighten the tension a little. The plot meanders in this murky world. It needs a direction. Nevertheless I just love the dark exotic mood.
grantss
A love story presented as political intrigue.The Year of Living Dangerously had heaps of potential. It is laced with heaps of political intrigue and touches on themes of government transparency, freedom of the press, fascism and third world problems. Yet, unfortunately, it is mostly just a love story.The intrigue is there from the start, leaving you thinking this is going to end as some espionage-type thriller, or freedom of the press and expression argument. There's a Killing Fields / Apocalypse Now / Heart of Darkness vibe about the movie which keeps it going.Yet, all these go nowhere. The climax is relatively anti-climactic, and disappointing. This said, the journey was reasonably interesting, even if the destination was so-so.Performances vary. Mel Gibson is solid in the lead role. Signourney Weaver gives a decent performance but I found it difficult to think of her as English. Linda Hunt got an Oscar for her performance because the Academy thought it would be quirky and historical to give the Best Actress award to a Caucasian woman playing an Asian man. Her performance was okay, but not THAT good. From the start you think "Isn't she a woman?", and that doesn't help the credibility and purpose of the character. Kept making me think we were about to have a (reverse) Crying Game-like moment...
jsneider
Sadly, the author of the book only wrote two novels and this one thankfully was made into this great film. The dialog of Linda Hunty's character is so intelligent you might want to keep a Thesaurus handy. Alos Michael Murphy, so underrated is perfect. Of course looking at the very young Sigourney and Mel is very pleasant. The plot is exciting and really proves something. That these Dictators, in this case Sukarno come and go and come and go. The photography and scenes are stunning. I don't care to see two people actually 'doing it' on the screen. If you like that sort of thing watch a porno! The scene between Gibson and Weaver when they run to the car to get out of the rain and just look at each other........wow, you can really feel the Heat big time. You can really learn things about the World from this film.I hate remakes but this one if done right could be great.
charishankar
Political thrillers are not my cup of tea. World history does not fascinate me. I'm a simple guy who likes his stories - whether on the written page or the silver screen - simple. I prefer fiction to fact.Which is why, perhaps, I am not in a position to comment on the qualities of 'The Year of Living Dangerously' as a political film, dealing with the troubled times in Indonesia at the time of the overthrow of President Sukarno in the 1960's. About how faithful it remains to the ground facts and realities of the situation as it then existed, I know nothing.And therein lies the strength of this film. Peter Weir has, in 'The Year of Living Dangerously', crafted a piece of cinema which, to say the least, is strikingly atmospheric. The viewer is plunged headlong into life in Jakarta as it was then, to a point where, at times, the experience becomes frankly cathartic. The scenes are authentically shot, obviously with care to be correct to the last detail, and at times it becomes difficult to analyze how Weir managed it all. And to do him credit, Mel Gibson, in one of his earlier appearances, manages a remarkably credible performance as the enterprising, if somewhat maverick, journalist Guy Hamilton, and is convincingly supported by Sigourney Weaver, who, despite being essentially his love interest and nothing more, is dependable as always.Where, perhaps, the film does falter, at times, is in putting the pieces together, so that it transcends the "docudrama" genre and becomes epic. A bit more continuity, here and there, might have gained the movie a few more brownie points.And then, of course, there's Billy Kwan. An astonishing portrayal, of one of the most intense characters I have seen in cinema. 'The Year of Living Dangerously' is worth watching even for the sheer experience of absorbing Linda Hunt's enactment of the mercurial character, for, believe me, it's a tour de force if there ever was one - a portrayal which permeates into you at so many levels, it's difficult to make out where Hunt ends and Kwan begins. That it is a male character essayed by a female artist is of course creditable; it is, however, another triumph for Hunt that she never lets us become aware of this. In the hands of a lesser performer it may have been reduced to a casting gimmick; in Linda Hunt's hands, it becomes one of the greatest performances ever seen on screen.I certainly feel kindlier towards political thrillers after watching this one. Perhaps you will, too.
