The Year of Living Dangerously **** (1982, Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hunt, Michael Murphy, Bill Kerr) – Classic Movie Review 3785

Director Peter Weir’s 1982 romantic war drama, based on the novel by C J Koch, is an Aussie classic. The Year of Living Dangerously is 1965 and the dangerous place is Indonesia.

Mel Gibson stars as Guy Hamilton, an innocent Aussie TV journalist on his first job as a foreign correspondent, a dangerous assignment which becomes even more life-threatening when he discovers vital military information during the coup that deposes President Sukarno.

Gibson’s Hamilton character also has a highly charged affair with British embassy worker Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver). Good though both Gibson and Weaver are, the most startling performance comes from the tiny Linda Hunt, who deservedly won an Oscar for best supporting actress for playing the tiny Chinese male photographer Billy Kwan who guides Gibson through the exotic labyrinth of Indonesia.

Co-writer/director Weir earnestly depicts clashing cultures and political turmoil, but the flimsy romance and Weaver’s sketchily written character slightly let the side down. Shot on location in the Philippines and in the studio in Sydney, it was notable as the first Australian movie to be wholly financed by a Hollywood studio – MGM.

It is graced with Russell Boyd’s cinematography, Maurice Jarre’s score and Herbert Pinter’s art direction. David Williamson writes the screenplay with Weir and Koch.

Also in the cast are Michael Murphy as Pete Curtis, Bill Kerr as Colonel Henderson, Noel Ferrier, Bembol Roco, Cecily Polson, Mark Egerton, Chris Quivak, Domingo Landicho and Paul Sonkkila.

Weir previously hired Bill Kerr in the key role of Jack in Gallipoli (1981). Bill Kerr died at 92 on August 28 2014. He was Giles Kent in Doctor Who (1967-68) and one of Tony Hancock’s regular sidekicks on the popular radio series Hancock’s Half Hour for its six-year run in the Fifties. He plays Jack Coombes in The Wrong Arm of the Law (1962).

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3785

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com