Customer Reviews

The Year of Living Dangerously (Widescreen)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Peter Weir's film 'The Year of Living Dangerously' was shown at a campus film festival during my first year as an undergraduate (a few years after Linda Hunt had won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing a male character), sponsored by the departments of political science, journalism, and East Asian studies.

The setting is 1965, Djakarta, during a time when Southeast Asia was high on the scope of European radar and coming into more prominence for American eyes. Indonesia was (and is) a big country, with population and resources (both underutilised) the envy of East and West.

The dictator Sukarno was playing a dangerous game trying the balance the two, internally as well as in foreign affairs. In the end, it did not pay off for him, and Indonesia has only recently begun to work at achieving a prominence a resource-rich, 100+ million populated country can attain.

Into this tight-rope situation dropped Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson), of the Australian Broadcasting Service, a fresh-faced journalist out to make a mark for himself, sabotaged by his predecessor and professionally ignored by other Western journalists (who had their own headline-deadlines to meet). However, a strange American/Chinese man, Billy Kwan (Linda Hunt), befriends him, and attempts to help him both professionally, personally, and spiritually.

Billy takes Guy on a trip through the slums of Djakarta, preaching Tolstoy, charity and compassion, and tries to get Guy to see beyond the headlines. Billy also introduces Guy to Jill (Sigourney Weaver), a British agent planning to leave Djakarta.

The tale wanders through politics, personal strife and decision-making, and the beginnings of revolution, climaxing with Billy putting his words into action and suffering a martyr's fate trying to get Sukarno's attention for the suffering poor, and Jill and Guy making a mad dash for the airport before the runways are closed.

Those of us with benefit of hindsight know that Guy could have stayed, the communist PKI in fact did not succeed, and he could have continued to write articles and make a mark. But that would not have been as romantic.

This movie is one of contrasts--the elegance of a British Embassy cocktail party contrasted with the poverty of the native Javanese; the cooperation of Billy against the ignoring of the other professionals; the native spirituality (which isn't exploited nearly enough) against the materialistic West (made worse when adopted by a native such as Sukarno). The music from Vangelis is an interesting accompaniment (remember Chariots of Fire?) and the cinematography grand in many cases. But subtlety abounds here--you may miss much the first time through.

This is an atypical Weir film (but of course, that may be an oxymoron, for is there a 'typical' Weir film?). Australian, but it doesn't always seem so; artistic, but it doesn't always seem so--there are many such attributes. Weir always tries to inject meaning into his films in many ways -- the injection didn't quite take in every way in this film, and some meanings are a bit overdone, but overall, there is a good balance.

This is not an action film (despite occasionally being categorised in this group). If you're looking for bombs bursting in air, look elsewhere.

This film is brilliant and perfectly matched to its actors. The score by Maurice Jarre almost, but not quite, eclipses the real star of the film, the Indonesia of the movie's timeframe.

Dreamy, brilliantly shot in the countryside and crowded 1960s Jakarta, and yet tautly real, the film overwhelms the senses yet is precise and sensitive on a large canvas. The ominousness of political events-- Sukarno's rise to power-- unfolds against an atmosphere so evocative that I forgot myself in the first few frames of the film.

Only Weir's equally evocative film _Fearless_ plumbs the same rich depths this brilliant, perfectly-realized film does.

More than 5 stars. A superb film that will make you forget yourself and remember its haunting themes, and very real human players in a drama beyond the scale of any of their lives.

This movie is a keeper. I remember seeing it at the theatre when it first came out. It's a fascinating depiction of Sukarno's Indonesian government with a stellar perfomance by Linda Hunt. There are still many lessons that this movie can teach us today. I strongly recommend it.

I loved the original theatrical release of The Year of Living Dangerously. I watched it over and over. It was a beautiful, sensuous film. This is not the original. This DVD was the work of some hack who left the best parts of the movie on the cutting room floor. Gone is much of the gamelan music, many scenic shots of Indonesian countryside, and one of the hotest make-out scenes in cinematic history. Just as Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver are about to go at it the scene abruptly ends. Even the sequence of the original is changed. The over all effect is a coursening of what had been a classic. This was such a dark and murky print I still wonder if I somehow got a bootleg copy surreptitiously videotaped by some artless thug. I feel angry and cheated.
I recommend waiting until the original version is released. DON'T BUY THIS TRASH!

I saw it on the big screen when it first came out, and i distinctly recall that breathing required a conscious effort for at least a couple of hours afterward. That was another time, and i don't promise all or even any will have a similar reaction, but I sure was moved. A bit claustrophobic at times, but I think that was the point. It features a wonderful Jessye Norman performance of Strauss' Four Last Songs, which is about as exquisite a piece of music as this sordid little species has ever produced.

A terrific film--

The cinematography is brilliant; the actors and story, mesmerizing. Highly recommended.

This film is brilliant and perfectly matched to its actors. The score by Maurice Jarre almost, but not quite, eclipses the real star of the film, the Indonesia of the movie's timeframe.

Dreamy, brilliantly shot in the countryside and crowded 1960s Jakarta, and yet tautly real, the film overwhelms the senses yet is precise and sensitive on a large canvas. The ominousness of political events-- Sukarno's rise to power-- unfolds against an atmosphere so evocative that I forgot myself in the first few frames of the film.

Only Weir's equally evocative film _Fearless_ plumbs the same rich depths this brilliant, perfectly-realized film does.

The movie is very dark. Could certainly use better lighting. Sometimes a little confusing.

You really feel like you are there in the hot and wet climate. Very well developed characters, and you do have a sense of the unease of the times, as well as the stunning beauty of land the events were set in.

(well, those scenes were shot in the Philippines, but you get the idea)

Even if you occasionally yell out "Now Mel, you are _not_ in a chick movie" while watching it, it is a great film.

You really feel like you are there in the hot and wet climate. Very well developed characters, and you do have a sense of the unease of the times, as well as the stunning beauty of land the events were set in.

(well, those scene were shot in the Philippines, but you get the idea)

Even if you occasionally yell out "Now Mel, you are _not_ in a chick movie" while watching it, it is a great film.