Review of The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) by Stuart K — 16 Apr 2013

Directed by Peter Weir, who at the time had had a big success with Gallipoli (1981), Hollywood came calling, and Weir answered to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and gave them this adaptation of Christopher Koch's 1978 novel.

Weir reunited with his leading man from Gallipoli, whose star was well and truly on the rise around that time. It's a powerful love story set during a dangerous time in 20th Century history. In 1965, Australian foreign correspondent Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson) is dispatched to Jakarta in Indonesia on assignment.

There, his guide is dwarf Billy Kwan (Linda Hunt), who is highly intelligent. Guy and Billy struggle to get information regarding the political situation in Jakarta, but they discover the government have ties with the Communist Chinese, and it escalates to the 30 September Movement, at the same time Guy falls for Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver), who works for the British Embassy in Jakarta, but their love story is complicated, as Bryant provides Hamilton with the information regarding the Indonesian government.

It's a good love story, well made and Weir manages to get the best from his cast, including Linda Hunt as a male dwarf, this unusual casting earned Hunt a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, it's well made and despite the complex political situation at it's core, it's well worth watching.