1982 Australian romantic political drama
The Year of Living Dangerously
is a 1982
romantic
drama film
directed by
Peter Weir
and co-written by Weir and
David Williamson
. It was adapted from
Christopher Koch
's 1978 novel
The Year of Living Dangerously
. The story is about a love affair set in
Indonesia
during the
overthrow
of President
Sukarno
. It follows a group of foreign correspondents in
Jakarta
on the eve of an attempted coup by the
30 September Movement
in 1965. The film is considered one of the last in the
Australian New Wave
genre.
The film stars
Mel Gibson
as Australian journalist Guy Hamilton, and
Sigourney Weaver
as British Embassy officer Jill Bryant. It also stars
Linda Hunt
as a Chinese-Australian man with dwarfism, Billy Kwan, Hamilton's local photographer contact, a role for which Hunt won the 1983
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
.
[6]
The film was shot in both
Australia
and the
Philippines
and includes Australian actors
Bill Kerr
as Colonel Henderson and
Noel Ferrier
as Wally O'Sullivan.
It was banned from being shown in Indonesia until 2000, after the
forced resignation
of coup-leader and political successor
Suharto
in 1998.
[7]
The title
The Year of Living Dangerously
is a quote which refers to a famous
Italian
phrase used by Sukarno:
vivere pericolosamente
, meaning "living dangerously". Sukarno used the line for the title of his
Indonesian Independence Day
speech of 1964
.
Plot
[
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]
Guy Hamilton, a neophyte
foreign correspondent
for an
Australian
TV network, arrives in
Jakarta
on assignment. He meets the close-knit members of the foreign correspondent community, including journalists from the
UK
, the
US
, and
New Zealand
, diplomatic personnel, and Billy Kwan, a
Chinese Australian
man with dwarfism, high intelligence, and moral seriousness. Hamilton is initially unsuccessful because his predecessor, tired of life in
Indonesia
, had departed without introducing Hamilton to his contacts. He receives limited sympathy from the journalist community, which competes for scraps of information from
Sukarno
's regime, the
Communist Party of Indonesia
(PKI), and the conservative Muslim-dominated
Indonesian military
. However, Billy takes a liking to Guy and arranges interviews for him with key political figures.
Billy introduces Guy to Jill Bryant, a beautiful young assistant at the
British embassy
. Billy and Jill are close friends, yet Billy subtly manipulates her encounters with Guy. After resisting Guy because she's returning to the UK, Jill falls in love with him. Discovering that the
Chinese communists
are arming the PKI, Jill passes this information to Guy to save his life, but he wants to cover the communist rebellion that will occur when the arms shipment reaches Jakarta. Shocked, Billy and Jill cut off contact with Guy, and he is left with the American journalist, Pete Curtis, and his own assistant and driver Kumar, who is secretly a member of the PKI. Kumar, however, remains loyal to Guy, and tries to open his eyes to all that is going on.
Billy, outraged by Sukarno's failure to meet the needs of most Indonesians, decides to hang a sign saying "Sukarno feed your people" from the
Hotel Indonesia
expressing his outrage, but is thrown from the window by security men, and dies in Guy's arms. His death is also witnessed by Jill. Still in search of "the big story", Guy visits the
presidential palace
after the army generals have taken over and
unleashed executions
, after they learned of the communist shipment. Struck down by an army officer, Guy suffers a
detached retina
. Resting alone in Billy's bungalow, Guy recalls a passage from the
Bhagavad Gita
, "all is clouded by desire", which Billy told him. Kumar visits him and tells him about the failed coup attempt. Risking permanent damage to his eye, a bandaged Guy implores Kumar to drive him to the airport, where he boards the last plane out of Jakarta and is reunited with Jill.
Cast
[
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]
Production
[
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]
Development
[
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]
A number of filmmakers were interested in buying the rights to
Christopher Koch
's novel including
Phillip Noyce
. It was
Peter Weir
who was successful. Koch wrote an early draft but Weir was unhappy with it.
Alan Sharp
wrote three more drafts, then
David Williamson
was brought on to do several more drafts. Koch later came back on to work on some of the voice over, although he never spoke with Peter Weir. Koch later claimed that the final script was "55% Williamson/Weir, and 45% Koch".
[8]
The film was originally backed by the
South Australian Film Corporation
and the
Australian Film Commission
, with international distribution arranged by
MGM/UA Entertainment Company
. However, the SAFC then dropped out and Weir's agent suggested MGM provide the entire $6 million budget themselves, which is what happened.
[2]
[9]
It was by far the most ambitious Australian film undertaken at the time and was one of the first co-productions between Australia and a Hollywood studio.
Casting
[
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]
Dancer
David Atkins
was originally cast as Billy Kwan. However, during rehearsals Weir began to feel that the relationship between his character and
Mel Gibson
's was not working so he decided to recast. Several actors auditioned, including
Bob Balaban
and
Wallace Shawn
, when Weir saw a photo of
Linda Hunt
. He asked for her to audition and decided to cast her.
[2]
Weir said on casting Hunt, "I never would have started out looking for a woman, But from the moment I saw her test, I knew she was appropriate."
[10]
To accomplish the role during production, Hunt shortened "her hair and dye[d] it black[,] wore padding around her waist, shaved her eyebrows, and carried something in her shirt pocket."
[11]
In her 1986 interview with
Bomb
magazine, Hunt agreed with the interviewer's remarks that Billy Kwan "is supra-personal [with] layers of sexual ambiguity[.]"
[12]
Filming
[
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]
Although originally set to be filmed in
Jakarta
, permission to film in
Indonesia
was denied, so the bulk of the film was shot in the
Philippines
, in
Manila
's
Quiapo
district and the
Banaue Rice Terraces
. Weir said, "All slums look alike, after all."
[13]
Death threats against Weir and Gibson from Muslims who believed the film would be anti-Islam forced the production to move to Australia. The crew moved to Sydney in early April 1982 during its fifth week of the six-week Philippine shoot with only a few small scenes remaining. Filming in Australia was for another six weeks.
[10]
Gibson downplayed the death threats, saying, "It wasn't really that bad. We got a lot of death threats to be sure, but I just assumed that when there are so many, it must mean nothing is really going to happen. I mean, if they meant to kill us, why send a note?"
[14]
[15]
Gibson described his character Guy, saying, "He's not a silver-tongued devil. He's kind of immature and he has some rough edges and I guess you could say the same for me."
[16]
Music
[
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]
The original score is by
Maurice Jarre
, and contains several period pieces, such as
Tutti Frutti
and
Long Tall Sally
by
Little Richard
, and
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
by
Jerry Lee Lewis
.
The theme music, for which it is best-known, is
L’Enfant
by
Vangelis
.
[17]
The character Billy Kwan, played by actor Linda Hunt, is known for his appreciation of classical music, including a piece from "
Four Last Songs
" by
Richard Strauss
which has an emotional resonance for Kwan and his relationship with the Australian correspondent, played by Mel Gibson.
Release
[
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]
The Year of Living Dangerously
opened in Australia on 16 December 1982 at Sydney’s Pitt Centre.
[18]
The film was entered into the
1983 Cannes Film Festival
attended by Weir, Gibson and Weaver to promote it,
[19]
where it was well received by audiences and critics. Gibson attended the festival during a break from filming
The Bounty
in London.
[20]
Home media
[
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]
The film was released for sale or rental in Australia on
VHS
in 1984 and on
LaserDisc
in 1985 with a runtime of 117-minute cut.
[21]
[22]
Warner Bros.
released
The Year of Living Dangerously
in the United States on
DVD
in June 2000 with a
theatrical trailer
as the sole extra feature.
[23]
In 2002 it was issued on DVD in Australia.
[24]
[25]
Reception
[
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]
Box office
[
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]
The film opened in Australia on 17 December 1982. Filmed on a budget of $6 million,
[3]
The Year of Living Dangerously
grossed $2,898,000 at the box office in Australia.
[4]
The film opened in the United States via
limited release
on 21 January 1983 before receiving a
wide release
on 18 February 1983. In its limited release opening weekend in the US, the film earned $35,000 from one theatre.
[26]
When released nationwide, the film ranked thirteenth in the box office grossing $1,716,040 on 690 theatres during the
Presidents' Day weekend
.
[27]
In its sixth weekend since its limited opening (however, second nationwide release weekend), The Year of Living Dangerously made $1.2 million in 679 theatres (a total of $3,469,305 over that period), rising to eleventh.
[28]
It then made $932,370 on its seventh weekend (third nationwide) a 25.7% drop, and $802,753 on its eighth weekend across 290 screens both finishing thirteenth.
[29]
After 49 weeks in theatres, the film would finish with a box office gross of $10.3 million.
[5]
Critical reception
[
edit
]
On
review aggregator
website
Rotten Tomatoes
, the film has an 88% rating based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 7.82/10. The site's consensus states: "Both a smart, suspenseful tale of intrigue and a sweeping romance,
The Year of Living Dangerously
features excellent performances from Mel Gibson as a journalist and Sigourney Weaver as a staffer at the British Embassy in Jakarta during the political unrest in Indonesia."
[30]
Metacritic
reports a 65 out of 100 rating based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
[31]
Film critic
Roger Ebert
of the
Chicago Sun-Times
gave the film four out of four stars and praised Hunt's performance: "Billy Kwan is played, astonishingly, by a woman?Linda Hunt, a New York stage actress who enters the role so fully that it never occurs to us that she is not a man. This is what great acting is, a magical transformation of one person into another".
[32]
In his review for
The New York Times
,
Vincent Canby
praised Gibson's performance: "If this film doesn't make an international star of Mr. Gibson (
Gallipoli
,
The Road Warrior
), then nothing will. He possesses both the necessary talent and the screen presence".
[33]
However,
Richard Corliss
of
Time
wrote, "But in his attempt to blend his preoccupations with the plot of C. J. Koch's 1978 novel, Weir has perhaps packed too much imagery and information into his movie ... The plot becomes landlocked in true-life implausibilities; the characters rarely get a hold on the moviegoer's heart or lapels".
[34]
In his review for the
Washington Post
, Gary Arnold described the film as "a grievously flawed yet compelling tale of political intrigue, certainly a triumph of atmosphere if not of coherent dramatization".
[35]
Newsweek
magazine called the film "an annoying failure because it fritters away so many rich opportunities".
[36]
Weir was nominated for the
Palme d'Or
at the 1983
Cannes Film Festival
and Hunt won the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
.
[3]
Accolades
[
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]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"
THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY
(PG)"
.
British Board of Film Classification
. 17 February 1983. Archived from
the original
on 22 December 2015
. Retrieved
20 December
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
David Stratton,
The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry
, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p166-171
- ^
a
b
c
Formica, Serena (2012).
Peter Weir: A Creative Journey from Australia to Hollywood
. Bristol, UK: Intellect Books. p. 109.
ISBN
978-1-84150-477-3
. Retrieved
27 September
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Film Victoria ? Australian Films at the Australian Box Office
Archived
18 February 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
a
b
"The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)"
.
Box Office Mojo
.
Internet Movie Database
. Retrieved
9 April
2020
.
- ^
Worrell, Denise; Clarke, Gerald (23 April 1984).
"The Night off the Great Prom"
.
Time
. Archived from
the original
on 29 October 2010
. Retrieved
24 May
2010
.
- ^
Paddock, Richard C. (11 November 2000).
"
'Year' at Last Gets Its Day in Indonesia"
.
The Los Angeles Times
.
- ^
Christopher Koch, "Screenplay by...",
Cinema Papers
, March 1983 p10
- ^
Bob Thomas (15 February 1983). "Mel Gibson Has All Ingredients For Superstardom".
Associated Press
.
- ^
a
b
Hollie, Pamela G. (13 April 1982).
"THREATS TO 'LIVING DANGEROUSLY' COME TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
25 May
2020
.
- ^
Unger, Bertil (15 January 1986).
"Size Is Small Problem for Hunt"
.
New Straits Times
.
- ^
Hunt, Linda
(Summer 1986).
"Linda Hunt"
.
Bomb
(Interview). Interviewed by Vincent Caristi and Craig Gholson. Archived from
the original
on 16 March 2013.
- ^
Brad Newsham, Take Me with You: A Round-the-world Journey to Invite a Stranger Home, Traveler's Tales, 2000.
- ^
Davin Seay (February 1983). "An American from Kangaroo-land hops to the top". Ampersand.
- ^
GTV 9 Don Lane Show, Interview with Peter Weir and Mel Gibson, 1982
on
YouTube
[
dead link
]
- ^
Vernon Scott (24 February 1983). "Mel Gibson: Australia's new hunk".
United Press International
.
- ^
soundtrack
at
IMDb
; retrieved 9 May 2024
- ^
"SYDNEY IN 70MM ? PART 3 THE MULTIPLEX"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 28 October 2020
. Retrieved
26 April
2020
.
- ^
"Festival de Cannes: Forbidden Relations"
.
festival-cannes.com
. Archived from
the original
on 1 October 2012
. Retrieved
17 June
2009
.
- ^
Dionne, E.J. (23 May 1983). "Cannes Over, Films Face the Public".
The New York Times
. p. 13.
- ^
"The Year of Living Dangerously Videotape"
.
classification.gov.au
. July 1984. Archived from
the original
on 31 October 2020
. Retrieved
26 April
2020
.
- ^
"The Year of Living Dangerously LaserDisc"
.
classification.gov.au
. June 1985. Archived from
the original
on 31 October 2020
. Retrieved
26 April
2020
.
- ^
"The Year of Living Dangerously Warner Bros. DVD review"
. Retrieved
9 April
2020
.
- ^
"The Year of Living Dangerously] DVD United States Warner Bros. 1982"
.
Blu-ray.com
. 6 June 2000
. Retrieved
9 April
2020
.
- ^
"The Year of Living Dangerously DVD Australia Warner Bros"
.
Blu-ray.com
. 1 July 2002
. Retrieved
9 April
2020
.
- ^
"The Year of Living Dangerously Weekend Box Office Results for January 21?23, 1983"
.
Box Office Mojo
.
Internet Movie Database
. 24 January 1983
. Retrieved
9 April
2020
.
- ^
"The Year of Living Dangerously Weekend Box Office Results for February 18?21, 1983"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Internet Movie Database. 22 February 1983
. Retrieved
9 April
2020
.
- ^
"The Year of Living Dangerously Weekend Box Office Results for February 18?21, 1983"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Internet Movie Database. 22 February 1983
. Retrieved
9 April
2020
.
- ^
"The Year of Living Dangerously Weekend Box Office Results for February 18?21, 1983"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Internet Movie Database. 22 February 1983
. Retrieved
9 April
2020
.
- ^
"The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
.
Flixster
. Retrieved
20 December
2015
.
- ^
"The Year of Living Dangerously reviews"
.
Metacritic
. Retrieved
20 December
2015
.
- ^
Ebert, Roger (1 June 1983).
"
The Year of Living Dangerously
"
.
Chicago Sun-Times
. Archived from
the original
on 1 October 2012
. Retrieved
24 May
2010
.
- ^
Canby, Vincent
(21 January 1983).
"
The Year of Living Dangerously
"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
24 May
2010
.
- ^
Corliss, Richard (17 January 1983).
"Waist-Deep in the Big Money"
.
Time
. Archived from
the original
on 12 June 2008
. Retrieved
24 May
2010
.
- ^
Arnold, Gary (18 February 1983). "Tale of Political Intrigue Is Flawed but Compelling".
The Washington Post
. pp. C1.
- ^
"Our Man in Jakarta".
Newsweek
. 24 January 1983. p. 66.
External links
[
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]