The Year of Living Dangerously

Peter Weir’s superb political thriller set against the upheaval of Sukarno’s Indonesia is suspenseful, smart and beautifully acted with top honors going to Linda Hunt’s gender-bending triumph as photo-journalist Billy Kwan who strikes the romantic sparks between the more conventional duo played by Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver. The title was Sukarno’s prophetic phrase for the year 1965. Filming in Manila was disrupted by death threats from Moslem radicals and most of the film was shot in Australia. Composer Maurice Jarre eschewed his typically epic orchestrations for a low key electronic score bolstered by ancient tribal instruments.