The Year of Living Dangerously

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Alain E Excellent opportunity to see Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver in the beginning of their careers. The movie depicts realistically third world conditions in the early sixties. Western journalists mostly have a good time as the local society is going to hell. The woman who plays Gibson’s male assistant-very convincingly I should say- was awarded an Oscar for supporting acting. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/23/24 Full Review Alec B The "journalists witnessing atrocities" genre is often fraught with narrative issues. This movie certainly isn't free of those problems but I like how almost intentionally clueless the western reporters are for most of the movie, caring more about the prestige of the "scoop" rather than the genocide occurring before their very eyes. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/10/24 Full Review Taylor L As much as I appreciate Linda Hunt as an actress (Silverado was a VHS favorite growing up), it's difficult to see her nuanced performance getting the same recognition these days. An American actress portraying a Chinese-Australian photojournalist in Indonesia just doesn't jive well these days, regardless of how capably it's done. Director Peter Weir has some legitimate masterpieces to his name, but The Year of Living Dangerously isn't one of them. Adapted from a novel of the same name by C. J. Koch, the script covers the instability of Indonesia in 1965 through three people - Mel Gibson's fresh-faced but ambitious Australian journalist Guy, Hunt as altruistic photographer Billy Kwan with local connections, and Sigourney Weaver as Jill, a British diplomatic representative. The narrative aims to present both a romantic melodrama between Guy and Jill where the unpredictable atmosphere makes things hot and heavy, while criticizing the exploitative attitude of Westerners that see the unrest and suffering only as a means of personal gain. It's ambitious, but it probably worked better off as a novel; there's not enough time to explore each of the components in detail, even if the performances are good all around. The romance reinforces the flippant nature of the outsiders, but it's more of a brief footnote to a main political plot that feels pretty blunt and relies on Guy being doggedly self-serving, which really takes away from the audience supporting him getting with Jill or fleeing the country. Well-executed practically, especially when it comes to the frantic depiction of revolutionary Indonesia, but messy in structure. (2.5/5) Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Excellent... but chilling! Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Nobody loves this movie as much as I do, LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Linda Hunt was pretty amazing. Rest of the film is ok, some characters seemed unconvincing, a bit over the top. The story gets lost somewhere amongst a weak tale of romance and a disparate attempt at political analysis. There's enough here to make it worth a watch just for the way it portrays Indonesia during the coup but could have been a lot better. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Year of Living Dangerously

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