The Year of Living Dangerously ( film ) - Wikipedia The Year of Living Dangerously ( film ) This article is about the 1982 film. For the TV series on climate change, see Years of Living Dangerously. The Year of Living Dangerously Theatrical release poster Directed by Peter Weir Produced by Jim McElroy Screenplay by Peter Weir David Williamson Based on The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher Koch Starring Mel Gibson Sigourney Weaver Bill Kerr Michael Murphy Linda Hunt Noel Ferrier Music by Maurice Jarre Cinematography Russell Boyd Edited by William M. Anderson Production companies McElroy and McElroy Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer Distributed by United International Pictures MGM / UA Entertainment Company Release date 17 December 1982 ( 1982 - 12 - 17 ) Running time 114 minutes Country Australia Language English Tagalog Filipino Indonesian Budget A $ 6 million Box office A $2.9 million US $ 10.3 million The Year of Living Dangerously is a 1982 Australian romantic, drama film directed by Peter Weir and co-written by Weir and David Williamson adapted from Christopher Koch 's 1978 novel The Year of Living Dangerously. The story is about a love affair set in Indonesia during the overthrow of President Sukarno. It follows a group of foreign correspondents in Jakarta on the eve of an attempted coup by the 30 September Movement in 1965. The film stars Mel Gibson as Australian journalist Guy Hamilton, and Sigourney Weaver as British Embassy officer Jill Bryant. It also stars Linda Hunt as the male dwarf Billy Kwan, Hamilton 's local photographer contact, a role for which Hunt won the 1983 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film was shot in both Australia and the Philippines and includes Australian actors Bill Kerr as Colonel Henderson and Noel Ferrier as Wally O'Sullivan. It was banned from being shown in Indonesia until 1999, after the forced resignation of coup - leader and political successor Suharto in 1998. The title The Year of Living Dangerously is a quote which refers to a famous Italian phrase used by Sukarno ; vivere pericolosamente, meaning `` living dangerously ''. Sukarno used the line for the title of his Indonesian Independence Day speech of 1964. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3.1 Development 3.2 Casting 3.3 Filming 3.4 Music 4 Release 4.1 Box office 4.2 Critical reception 4.3 Accolades 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Plot Guy Hamilton ( Mel Gibson ), a neophyte foreign correspondent for an Australian network, arrives in Jakarta on assignment. He meets the close - knit members of the foreign correspondent community including journalists from the United Kingdom, the United States, and New Zealand, diplomatic personnel, and a Chinese - Australian dwarf of high intelligence and moral seriousness, Billy Kwan ( Linda Hunt ). Hamilton is initially unsuccessful because his predecessor, tired of life in Indonesia, had departed without introducing Hamilton to his contacts. He receives limited sympathy from the journalist community, which competes for scraps of information from Sukarno 's ( Mike Emperio ) government, the Communist Party of Indonesia ( PKI ), and the conservative Muslim military. However, Kwan takes a liking to Hamilton and arranges interviews for him with key political figures. Kwan introduces Hamilton to Jill Bryant ( Sigourney Weaver ), a beautiful young assistant at the British embassy. Kwan and Bryant are close friends, and he subtly manipulates her encounters with Hamilton. After resisting Hamilton because she 's returning to the United Kingdom, Bryant falls in love with him. Discovering that the Communist Chinese are arming the PKI, Bryant passes this information to Hamilton to save his life, but he wants to cover the Communist rebellion that will occur when the arms shipment reaches Jakarta. Shocked, Kwan and Bryant withdraw their friendship from Hamilton, and he is left with the American journalist Pete Curtis ( Michael Murphy ), and his own assistant and driver Kumar ( Bembol Roco ), who is secretly PKI. Kumar, however, remains loyal to Hamilton and tries to open his eyes to all that is going on. Kwan, outraged by Sukarno 's failure to meet the needs of most Indonesians, decides to hang a sign saying `` Sukarno feed your people '' from the Hotel Indonesia expressing his outrage but is thrown from the window by security men, and dies in Hamilton 's arms. His death is also witnessed by Jill. Still in search of `` the big story '', Hamilton visits the Presidential palace after the army generals have taken over and unleashed executions, after they learned of the Communist shipment. Struck down by an Army officer, Hamilton suffers a detached retina. Resting alone in Kwan 's bungalow, Hamilton recalls a passage from the Bhagavad Gita ( `` all is clouded by desire '' ) which Billy told him. Kumar visits him and tells him about the failed coup attempt. Risking permanent damage to his eye, a heavily bandaged Hamilton implores Kumar to drive him to the airport, where he boards the last plane out of Jakarta and is reunited with Bryant. Cast Mel Gibson as Guy Hamilton Sigourney Weaver as Jill Bryant Bill Kerr as Colonel Henderson Michael Murphy as Pete Curtis Linda Hunt as Billy Kwan Noel Ferrier as Wally O'Sullivan Bembol Roco as Kumar Paul Sonkkila as Kevin Condon Ali Nur as Ali Dominador Robridillo as Becak Man Joel Agona as Palace Guard Mike Emperio as Sukarno Bernardo Nacilla as Dwarf Domingo Landicho as Hartono Hermino De Guzman as Immigration Officer Kuh Ledesma as Tiger Lily Production Development A number of filmmakers were interested in buying the rights to Christopher Koch 's novel including Phillip Noyce. It was Peter Weir who was successful. Koch wrote an early draft but Weir was unhappy with it. Alan Sharp wrote three more drafts, then David Williamson was brought on to do several more drafts. Koch later came back on to work on some of the voice over, although he never spoke with Peter Weir. Koch later claimed that the final script was `` 55 % Williamson / Weir, and 45 % Koch ''. The film was originally backed by the South Australian Film Corporation and the Australian Film Commission, with international distribution arranged by MGM / UA Entertainment Company. However, the SAFC then dropped out and Weir 's agent suggested MGM provide the entire $6 million budget themselves, which is what happened. It was by far the most ambitious Australian film undertaken at the time and was one of the first co-productions between Australia and a Hollywood studio. Casting Linda Hunt as Billy Kwan Dancer David Atkins was originally cast as Billy Kwan. However, during rehearsals Weir began to feel that the relationship between his character and Mel Gibson 's was not working so he decided to recast. Several actors auditioned, including Bob Balaban and Wallace Shawn, when Weir saw a photo of Linda Hunt. He asked for her to audition and decided to cast her. To accomplish the role during production, Hunt shortened `` her hair and dye ( d ) it black (, ) wore padding around her waist, shaved her eyebrows, and carried something in her shirt pocket. '' In her 1986 interview with Bomb magazine, Hunt remarked that Billy Kwan `` is supra - personal ( with ) layers of sexual ambiguity (. ) '' Filming Although originally set to be filmed in Jakarta, permission to film in Indonesia was denied, so the bulk of the film was shot in the Philippines. Death threats against Weir and Gibson from Muslims who believed the film would be anti-Islam forced the production to move to Australia. Gibson downplayed the death threats, saying, `` It was n't really that bad. We got a lot of death threats to be sure, but I just assumed that when there are so many, it must mean nothing is really going to happen. I mean, if they meant to kill us, why send a note ? '' Gibson described his character Guy, saying, `` He 's not a silver - tongued devil. He 's kind of immature and he has some rough edges and I guess you could say the same for me. '' Music `` L'Enfant '', a track from Vangelis ' 1979 album Opera sauvage, was featured in the film. Release The Year of Living Dangerously was entered into the 1983 Cannes Film Festival where it was well received by audiences and critics. Box Office The film opened in Australia on 17 December 1982. Filmed on a budget of $6 million, The Year of Living Dangerously grossed $2,898,000 at the box office in Australia. The film opened in the United States via limited release on 21 January 1983 before receiving a wide release on 18 February 1983. In its limited release opening weekend, the film earned $35,000 at the domestic box office. When released nationwide, the film ranked twelfth in the box office with $1,716,040. At the end of its run, the film grossed $10,278,575 in the United States. Critical reception On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 89 % rating based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7 / 10. The site 's consensus states : `` Both a smart, suspenseful tale of intrigue and a sweeping romance, The Year of Living Dangerously features excellent performances from Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver as a pair of journalists covering political unrest in Indonesia. '' Metacritic reports a 65 out of 100 rating based on 9 critics, indicating `` generally favorable reviews ''. Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun - Times gave the film four out of four stars and praised Hunt 's performance : `` Billy Kwan is played, astonishingly, by a woman -- Linda Hunt, a New York stage actress who enters the role so fully that it never occurs to us that she is not a man. This is what great acting is, a magical transformation of one person into another ''. In his review for The New York Times, Vincent Canby praised Gibson 's performance : `` If this film does n't make an international star of Mr. Gibson ( Gallipoli, The Road Warrior ), then nothing will. He possesses both the necessary talent and the screen presence ''. However, Time magazine 's Richard Corliss wrote, `` But in his attempt to blend his preoccupations with the plot of C.J. Koch 's 1978 novel, Weir has perhaps packed too much imagery and information into his movie... The plot becomes landlocked in true - life implausibilities ; the characters rarely get a hold on the moviegoer 's heart or lapels ''. In his review for the Washington Post, Gary Arnold described the film as `` a grievously flawed yet compelling tale of political intrigue, certainly a triumph of atmosphere if not of coherent dramatization ''. Newsweek magazine called the film `` an annoying failure because it fritters away so many rich opportunities ''. For their work in the film, Weir was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival and Hunt won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Accolades Award Subject Result AACTA Awards ( 1982 AFI Awards ) Best Film Jim McElroy Nominated Best Direction Peter Weir Nominated Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated David Williamson Nominated Best Actor Mel Gibson Nominated Best Supporting Actress Linda Hunt Won Best Cinematography Russell Boyd Nominated Best Editing William M. Anderson Nominated Best Original Music Score Maurice Jarre Nominated Best Sound Jeanine Chiavlo Nominated Peter Fenton Nominated Lee Smith Nominated Andrew Steuart Nominated Best Production Design Wendy Stites Nominated Herbert Pinter Nominated Best Costume Design Terry Ryan Nominated Academy Award Best Supporting Actress Linda Hunt Won Boston Society of Film Critics Award Best Supporting Actress Won Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Peter Weir Nominated Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain Best Foreign Film ( Mejor Película Extranjera ) Won Golden Globe Award Best Supporting Actress -- Motion Picture Linda Hunt Nominated Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award Best Supporting Actress Won LAFCA Award Best Supporting Actress Won National Board of Review Award Best Supporting Actress Won National Society of Film Critics Award Best Supporting Actress 3rd place New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Supporting Actress Won Writers Guild of America Best Adapted Screenplay Peter Weir Nominated David Williamson Nominated See also Whitewashing in film Indonesian killings of 1965 -- 66 References Jump up ^ `` THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY ( PG ) ''. British Board of Film Classification. 17 February 1983. Retrieved 20 December 2015. ^ Jump up to : David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation : Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p166 - 171 ^ Jump up to : Formica, Serena ( 2012 ). Peter Weir : A Creative Journey from Australia to Hollywood. Bristol, UK : Intellect Books. p. 109. ISBN 978 - 1 - 84150 - 477 - 3. Retrieved 27 September 2015. ^ Jump up to : Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office Archived 18 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. ^ Jump up to : `` The Year of Living Dangerously ( 1982 ) ''. Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 20 December 2015. Jump up ^ Worrell, Denise ; Clarke, Gerald ( 23 April 1984 ). `` The Night off the Great Prom ''. Time. Retrieved 24 May 2010. Jump up ^ Da Cunha, Derek ( 2002 ). Singapore in the new millennium : challenges facing the city - state. Singapore : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 258. ISBN 981 - 230 - 131 - 3. Retrieved 5 February 2010. Jump up ^ Christopher Koch, `` Screenplay by... '', Cinema Papers, March 1983 p10 Jump up ^ Bob Thomas ( 15 February 1983 ). `` Mel Gibson Has All Ingredients For Superstardom ''. Associated Press. Jump up ^ Unger, Bertil ( January 15, 1986 ). `` Size Is Small Problem for Hunt ''. New Straits Times. Jump up ^ Hunt, Linda ( Summer 1986 ). `` Linda Hunt ''. Bomb ( Interview ). Interview with Vincent Caristi and Craig Gholson. Jump up ^ Davin Seay ( February 1983 ). `` An American from Kangaroo - land hops to the top ''. Ampersand. Jump up ^ GTV 9 Don Lane Show, Interview with Peter Weir and Mel Gibson, 1982 on YouTube Jump up ^ Vernon Scott ( 24 February 1983 ). `` Mel Gibson : Australia 's new hunk ''. United Press International. Jump up ^ `` Festival de Cannes : Forbidden Relations ''. festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 17 June 2009. Jump up ^ Dionne, E.J. ( 23 May 1983 ). `` Cannes Over, Films Face the Public ''. The New York Times. p. 13. Jump up ^ `` Weekend Box Office Results for January 21 - 23, 1983 ''. Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. 24 January 1983. Retrieved 20 December 2015. Jump up ^ `` Weekend Box Office Results for February 18 - 21, 1983 ''. Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. 22 February 1983. Retrieved 20 December 2015. Jump up ^ `` The Year of Living Dangerously ( 1982 ) ''. Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 20 December 2015. Jump up ^ `` The Year of Living Dangerously reviews ''. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 20 December 2015. Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger ( 1 June 1983 ). `` The Year of Living Dangerously ''. Chicago Sun - Times. Retrieved 24 May 2010. Jump up ^ Canby, Vincent ( 21 January 1983 ). `` The Year of Living Dangerously ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 24 May 2010. Jump up ^ Corliss, Richard ( 17 January 1983 ). `` Waist - Deep in the Big Money ''. Time. Retrieved 24 May 2010. Jump up ^ Arnold, Gary ( 18 February 1983 ). `` Tale of Political Intrigue Is Flawed but Compelling ''. Washington Post. pp. C1. Jump up ^ `` Our Man in Jakarta ''. Newsweek. 24 January 1983. p. 66. External links The Year of Living Dangerously on IMDb The Year of Living Dangerously at Box Office Mojo The Year of Living Dangerously at Rotten Tomatoes The Year of Living Dangerously at Metacritic The Year of Living Dangerously at Oz Movies Films directed by Peter Weir 3 to Go ( 1971 ) Homesdale ( 1971 ) Whatever Happened to Green Valley ? ( 1973 ) The Cars That Ate Paris ( 1974 ) Picnic at Hanging Rock ( 1975 ) The Last Wave ( 1977 ) The Plumber ( 1979 ) Gallipoli ( 1981 ) The Year of Living Dangerously ( 1982 ) Witness ( 1985 ) The Mosquito Coast ( 1986 ) Dead Poets Society ( 1989 ) Green Card ( 1990 ) Fearless ( 1993 ) The Truman Show ( 1998 ) Master and Commander : The Far Side of the World ( 2003 ) The Way Back ( 2010 ) Works by David Williamson Plays The Indecent Exposure of Anthony East ( 1968 ) You 've Got to Get on Jack ( 1970 ) The Coming of Stork ( 1970 ) The Removalists ( 1971 ) Don 's Party ( 1971 ) Jugglers Three ( 1972 ) What If You Died Tomorrow ? ( 1973 ) The Department ( 1975 ) A Handful of Friends ( 1976 ) The Club ( 1977 ) Travelling North ( 1979 ) Celluloid Heroes ( 1980 ) The Perfectionist ( 1982 ) Sons of Cain ( 1985 ) Emerald City ( 1987 ) Top Silk ( 1989 ) Siren ( 1990 ) Money and Friends ( 1991 ) Brilliant Lies ( 1993 ) Sanctuary ( 1994 ) Dead White Males ( 1995 ) Heretic ( 1996 ) Third World Blues ( 1997 ) After the Ball ( 1997 ) Corporate Vibes ( 1999 ) Face to Face ( 2000 ) The Great Man ( 2000 ) Up for Grabs ( 2001 ) A Conversation ( 2001 ) Charitable Intent ( 2001 ) Soulmates ( 2002 ) Flatfoot ( 2003 ) Birthrights ( 2003 ) Amigos ( 2004 ) Operator ( 2005 ) Influence ( 2005 ) Lotte 's Gift ( 2007 ) Scarlett O'Hara at the Crimson Parrot ( 2008 ) Let the Sunshine ( 2009 ) Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica ( 2010 ) Don Parties On ( 2011 ) At Any Cost ? ( 2011 ) Nothing Personal ( 2011 ) When Dad Married Fury ( 2011 ) Managing Carmen ( 2012 ) Happiness ( 2013 ) Rupert ( 2013 ) Cruise Control ( 2014 ) Dream Home ( 2015 ) Jack of Hearts ( 2016 ) Odd Man Out ( 2017 ) Screenplays Stork ( 1971 ) Libido ( 1973 ) Petersen ( 1974 ) The Removalists ( 1975 ) Eliza Fraser ( 1975 ) Don 's Party ( 1976 ) The Department ( 1980 ) ( TV movie ) The Club ( 1980 ) Gallipoli ( 1981 ) Duet for Four ( 1982 ) The Year of Living Dangerously ( 1983 ) Phar Lap ( 1983 ) The Last Bastion ( 1984 ) ( TV series ) - also produced The Perfectionist ( 1987 ) ( TV movie ) Emerald City ( 1987 ) Travelling North ( 1987 ) Touch the Sun : Princess Kate ( 1988 ) ( TV ) A Dangerous Life ( 1988 ) ( TV mini-series ) The Four Minute Mile ( 1988 ) Sanctuary ( 1995 ) Brilliant Lies ( 1996 ) Dog 's Head Bay ( 1999 ) ( TV series ) On the Beach ( 2000 ) ( TV series ) Balibo ( 2009 ) Face to Face ( 2011 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Year_of_Living_Dangerously_(film)&oldid=802328815 '' Categories : 1982 films Australian films English - language films Tagalog - language films Filipino - language films Indonesian - language films 1980s romantic drama films Australian drama films Australian romance films Film scores by Maurice Jarre Films about journalists Films based on Australian novels Films directed by Peter Weir Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award - winning performance Films set in Indonesia Films set in 1965 Films shot in Manila Films shot in Sydney Films shot in the Philippines Indonesian mass killings of 1965 -- 1966 Romantic period films Transition to the New Order Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from June 2014 Use Australian English from December 2015 All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English Use dmy dates from October 2012 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Nederlands Norsk Plattdüütsch Polski Português Русский Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 25 September 2017, at 13 : 46. 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Question: who played billy in the year of living dangerously
Answer: Linda Hunt