The Year of Living Dangerously
Short description
Set in Jakarta in 1965, The Year of Living Dangerously follows Guy Hamilton, a young Australian journalist sent to Indonesia on his first foreign assignment. As political tensions rise under President Sukarno and the country edges toward upheaval, Hamilton builds a working relationship with Billy Kwan, a photographer who opens doors to sources and stories. He also becomes involved with Jill Bryant, a British embassy employee, and the affair complicates his position as he weighs professional ambition against the consequences of what he reports.
Peter Weir directed and co-wrote the film with C.J. Koch and David Williamson, adapting Koch's novel. It is the fifth of thirteen features Weir directed, arriving between Gallipoli and Witness. Mel Gibson plays Hamilton, Sigourney Weaver plays Bryant and Linda Hunt plays Kwan. The production cost about six million dollars and took roughly thirteen million worldwide.
On IMDb the film holds a 7.8 rating from 33 reviews, while on TMDB it has a 6.7 from 375 votes, so critics rate it noticeably higher than the general audience does.
What's left behind the scenes
- The majority of the film was shot in the Philippines.
- In addition to the music of Maurice Jarre, the film features compositions by Vangelis ("L«Enfant") and several rock and roll and blues songs: "Whole Lotta Shakin» Goin» On" (Jerry Lee Lewis), "Be Bop A Lula" (Gene Vincent), "Ain»t That Lovin' You Baby" (Jimmy Reed), "Long Tall Sally" and "Tutti-Frutti" (Little Richard).
- Director Peter Weir cast Linda Hunt in the role of Billy Kwan when he was unable to find a male actor who could play the part as he envisioned.
- Until 1999, the film was banned in Indonesia due to its frank depiction of the events surrounding Suharto's rise to power (1921-2008). The first screening in Indonesia took place on November 6, 2000, two years after Suharto was forced to abdicate after 32 years of sole rule.
- Filming was initially planned for Jakarta, but news arrived that a ban had been placed on filming in Indonesia, and production had to be moved to the Philippines, near Manila. Filming in Manila itself stalled for 3 weeks due to threats against the film crew. It is alleged that the threats were directed at Mel Gibson and Peter Weir, who were accused of making a film that would supposedly be anti-Islamic. To complete filming, the production had to move to Sydney. The film turned out to be very expensive to produce.
- A significant portion of the non-English dialogue in the film is spoken not in Javanese, but in Filipino. When Billy visits the home of a deceased child in the slums, an old man recites the "Our Father" in Tagalog (one of the main languages of the Republic of the Philippines).
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
