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Rating: 4.25 out of 5
Here is a little history lesson. The Thirtieth of September Movement was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian National Armed Forces members. President Sukarno was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. During his time, he guided Indonesians for independence, and after Japan’s defeat, he declared Indonesian independence and appointed himself general. He also established an autocratic system called “Guided Democracy” in 1959, and as time went on, oppression became rampant while he alienated the West and cozied up with other leaders. This led to The Thirtieth of September Movement, a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian National Armed Forces members. Military general Suharto took control of the country in an attempt to overthrow Sukarno. With any coup, bloodshed is sure to follow, with massacres running rampant across the country. It was estimated that from 500k to a million people lost their lives. In 1967, Suharto officially replaced Sukarno.
I bring this up because, during my Academy Award winners list, one of the films on it was The Year of Living Dangerously. The film was directed by Peter Weir and co-written by Weir and David Williamson. It was set during the overthrow of President Sukarno and the attempted coup by the 30 September Movement in 1965. It is somewhat of a period piece with a romantic story. Think of an earlier version of Titanic, but not as grand. The film stars Meg Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, and Linda Hunt and follows a group of foreign correspondents in Jakarta during the weeks leading up to the attempted coup by the 30 September Movement in 1965.
Guy Hamilton (Gibson), as Stephen A. Smith would say, is a wet behind the ears, breath smelling like Similac foreign correspondent for an Australian TV network. He arrives in Jakarta on a new assignment and is ready to report. When he first arrives, he meets a close-knit group of other foreign correspondents, including journalists from the UK, the US, and New Zealand. He also meets Billy Kwan (Hunt), a Chinese Australian man with dwarfism who is a photojournalist. Billy knows his shit in Jakarta as he is in deep with the community and knows the trials and tribulations of the people. He regularly provides for a poor woman and her young but sickly son. At first, Guy has no luck as a journalist as his predecessor threw up the deuces, bounced and didn’t leave any contacts. To make matters worse, all the other journalists don’t give a shit about Guy’s problems as they fight over any little scrap of information they can get from Sukarno’s regime, the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), and the conservative, Muslim-dominated Indonesian military.
When Guy is fed up, Billy takes a liking to Guy and helps him out. He sets up a series of interviews with key political figures. Billy also introduces Guy to Jill Bryant (Weaver), a FOINE young assistant at the British embassy. Guy tries to make moves and holla at Jill, but she resists him until one night and they play that Marvin Gaye “Let’s Get It On.” Things become tense when Jill makes a discovery and tells Guy that all foreigners are in danger and should bounce. Guy takes this information, thinking it is the major break he needs. Shit hits the fan when Jill and Billy cut off ties. Guy must think about the love of his career or the woman and friend he met.
From that whole thing, as I said above, the film does the whole romance during a revolution. I don’t know why romance has always been a genre for this period, but I roll with it. The romance side of the story was decent. You have two white people from countries that are far well off, and they fall in love during the tense situation. This doesn’t take away from the film at all. It showed that Guy was willing to go after Jill. Even though she played hard to get and really had a great excuse for not getting involved. They have this forbidden romance as Jill’s boss doesn’t like it, and the other journalists are jealous. Dude played his cards and won out.
The rebellion and drama within the film were the best parts. When Guy first arrives, you see the tension of the environment. People are protesting and pissed. There was one scene where Guy goes to a place, gets out of the car, and, as he is getting back in, is stabbed in the leg. It was crazy, and that is why you shouldn’t go to places that are on the edge of war or a revolution. I like these types of films because you really get some idea of learning about the rest of the world. I use these types of movies as a starting point for learning about new cultures and history. The scene that was brutal to watch was with Billy. After the little kid he was taken care of died, he becomes pissed and does a protest of his own. He meets a tragic end, and you feel sad by it. That death hits you in the feels.
Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver were great in their respective roles. Gibson was the new kid on the block with his bright eyes and quest for a story. Gibson didn’t overact but was mellow for most of the film, and it worked. Weaver was equally great as Jill. She was FOINE, a woman people wanted to pursue, but she also was extremely professional until she got it on with Guy. The person who needs to be raved about is Linda Hunt as Billy Kwan. Hunt’s performance was fantastic as she played a man, but you forget that she is a man while in the role. Hunt brought everything and more to this role, and you felt terrible about her character’s ending.
The Year of Living Dangerously is one of those films that is interesting to watch. It is a love story during a difficult time in a country. Gibson and Weaver were great in their respective roles. We must give significant praise to Hunt as she came in, dominated her role, and left with an Academy Award. If you ever go visit Indonesia, spend some time learning about the country.
