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The Year of Living Dangerously

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MV800243
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The Year of Living Dangerously (1983)

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Additional Information
A Love Caught In The Fire Of Revolution


Mel Gibson stars in this period political thriller directed by Peter Weir. Set in Indonesia during the 1965 coup against President Sukarno, the film stars Gibson as Guy Hamilton, an Australian wire-service reporter covering the scene. Whenever Hamilton becomes too glib or indifferent for his own good, he is brought back to earth by his "conscience," photographer Billy Kwan (played in male drag by diminutive actress Linda Hunt, who won an Academy Award for her performance). As all of Jakarta sinks into disarray, Hamilton pursues a romance with British attaché Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver). Filmed on location in the Philippines and Australia, the film was financed by MGM, in the first such American-Australian financial collaboration.


The Year of Living Dangerously is a 1982 Peter Weir film adapted from the novel The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher Koch. 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 stars Mel Gibson as Guy Hamilton, an Australian journalist, and Sigourney Weaver as Jill Bryant, a British Embassy officer. It also stars Linda Hunt as the male dwarf Billy Kwan, Hamilton's local photographer contact, a role for which Hunt won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[2] 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 1999.[3] 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 borrowed the line for the title of his Indonesian Independence Day speech of 1964.


The Year of Living Dangerously was entered into the 1983 Cannes Film Festival[9] where it was well received by audiences and critics.[10]
Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and praised Linda 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".[11] In his review for The New York Times, Vincent Canby praised Mel 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".[12] However, Time magazine's Richard Corliss 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".[13] 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".[14] Newsweek magazine called the film "an annoying failure because it fritters away so many rich opportunities".


Release Date: January 21, 1983

Distrib: MGM/UA


Boxoffice: $10,278,575 2013: $26,626,400

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The Year of Living Dangerously (1983)
Release Year
Catalog Number
M800243
Primary Distributor (If not listed, select "OTHER")
Catalog Number
M800243
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115 mins (NTSC)
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