{"id":6019,"date":"2008-11-23T11:43:02","date_gmt":"2008-11-23T18:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6019"},"modified":"2023-09-25T13:44:51","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T20:44:51","slug":"year-of-living-dangerously-the-1982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6019","title":{"rendered":"Year of Living Dangerously, The (1982)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;We&#8217;ll make a great team, old man: you for the words, me for the pictures. I can be your eyes.&#8221;<\/strong> <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Poster-198x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-63947\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Poster-198x300.png 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Poster-675x1024.png 675w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Poster-178x270.png 178w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Poster.png 727w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nOn the brink of a Communist rebellion in Sukarno&#8217;s Indonesia, an Australian reporter named Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson) befriends an idealistic dwarf photographer (Linda Hunt) who helps him get interviews with key political players; but when Hamilton falls for a beautiful military attache (Sigourney Weaver) and betrays her confidence, Hunt&#8217;s trust in Hamilton is severely compromised.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Betrayal<\/li>\n<li>Do-Gooders<\/li>\n<li>Friendship<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Journalists<\/li>\n<li>Mel Gibson Films<\/li>\n<li>Michael Murphy Films<\/li>\n<li>Peter Weir Films<\/li>\n<li>Photographers<\/li>\n<li>Sigourney Weaver Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary notes, this &#8220;smart, provocative, eerie film&#8221; by Australian director Peter Weir is so &#8220;convincing&#8221; that &#8220;you&#8217;ll feel like you&#8217;ve been transported back to 1964-65 in Jakarta, Indonesia, during the final year of the Sukarno regime&#8221;. Set in the midst of &#8220;paranoia, police action, political turbulence, &#8230; poverty in the extreme, and&#8230; decadent insensitive foreigners&#8221;, <em>TYOLD<\/em> is a rare political film about friendship &#8212; one which effectively explores &#8220;mistrust, ambition&#8230; and <em>betrayal<\/em>&#8220;, and manages to combine &#8220;frightening violent sequences, a great deal of suspense&#8221;, and romance, all in one satisfying package. <\/p>\n<p>Gibson is ostensibly the lead protagonist in the film, given that it&#8217;s his growth of conscience as a reporter &#8212; and his erotic courtship with sexy, smart Weaver &#8212; which form the primary arc of the narrative. Yet it&#8217;s the Chinese-European dwarf photographer &#8220;Billy Kwan&#8221; (Hunt) who ultimately leaves the deepest impression. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt4-1024x615.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-63957\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt4-1024x615.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt4-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt4-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt4-768x461.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt4-1536x922.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt4-450x270.png 450w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt4.png 1687w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As Peary notes, Kwan is a truly &#8220;enlightened male&#8221;, someone whose socialist ideals allow him to transcend his own beleaguered stature in life (he&#8217;s cruelly teased by his ignorant colleagues) and instead work towards helping &#8220;spread sunshine&#8221; in whatever small ways he can. Essentially a collector of people, he keeps extensive files on his friends and associates in order to both understand them and help guide them: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Collector.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Collector-1024x573.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"358\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-63956\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Collector-1024x573.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Collector-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Collector-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Collector-768x430.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Collector-1536x859.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Collector-483x270.png 483w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Collector.png 1811w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8212; a pastime which sounds creepy (indeed, Hamilton accuses him of being an operative), but is clearly driven by Kwan&#8217;s deep desire to help the world, and his realization that, as a misunderstood, marginalized dwarf, he must enlist the help of others in order to achieve his goals. Hunt &#8220;deservedly won an Oscar&#8221; for her performance as Kwan, and she&#8217;s reason enough to check out this satisfying political drama. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Linda Hunt as Billy Kwan<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt-1024x582.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"364\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-63949\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt-1024x582.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt-300x170.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt-768x436.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt-1536x873.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt-475x270.png 475w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Hunt.png 1815w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Mel Gibson as Guy Hamilton<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Gibson.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Gibson-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-63948\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Gibson-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Gibson-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Gibson-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Gibson-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Gibson-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Gibson-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Gibson.png 1815w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Sigourney Weaver as Jill Bryant (though her faux British accent is less than impressive)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Weaver3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Weaver3-1024x579.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"362\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-63950\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Weaver3-1024x579.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Weaver3-300x170.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Weaver3-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Weaver3-768x434.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Weaver3-1536x868.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Weaver3-478x270.png 478w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Weaver3.png 1821w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Excellent recreation of turbulent Jakarta in the 1960s (actually shot in the Philippines)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta-1024x585.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"366\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-63953\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta-1024x585.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta-768x439.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta-1536x877.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta-473x270.png 473w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta.png 1809w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta3-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-63954\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta3-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta3-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta3-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta3-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta3-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta3-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Year-of-Living-Dangerously-Jakarta3.png 1823w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A smart, powerful script (adapted from C.J. Koch&#8217;s novel)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. This Oscar-winning film remains powerful viewing, and should be enjoyed at least once by all film fanatics. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<li>Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086617\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1983\/01\/21\/movies\/year-of-living-dangerously.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/96371\/the-year-of-living-dangerously#articles-reviews?articleId=66900\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-year-of-living-dangerously-1\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll make a great team, old man: you for the words, me for the pictures. I can be your eyes.&#8221; Synopsis: On the brink of a Communist rebellion in Sukarno&#8217;s Indonesia, an Australian reporter named Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson) befriends an idealistic dwarf photographer (Linda Hunt) who helps him get interviews with key political players; but when Hamilton falls for a beautiful military attache (Sigourney Weaver) and betrays her confidence, Hunt&#8217;s trust in Hamilton is severely compromised. Genres, Themes, Actors,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6019\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6019"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92087,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6019\/revisions\/92087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}