Year of Release: 1982Country of Origin: Australia
Director: Peter Weir
Cast: Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hunt
Plot outline: A young Australian journalist tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer (IMDb).
Adapted from the novel of the same name by Christopher Koch, director Peter Weir is not entirely successful in weaving all the plots and characters together, leaving a few gaps between them. This is a complex story with several plots going on at the same time: the first, which is the background of the story, is the impending political turmoil involving the Communist Party of Indonesia; the second is the group of western diplomats and journalists who fail to make sense of what's happening around them; the third is the romance between young and ambitious Australian journalist Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson) and British diplomat Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver); and the fourth, which is the most important and intriguing - where the movie's point of view is based on, is the diminutive Australian/Chinese photographer named Billy Kwan (Linda Hunt). The group of westerners doesn't attract much of the audience's sympathy. Mel Gibson is very good, his performance is fresh and energetic - quite convincing as a rookie journalist. Sigourney Weaver is equally very good, but the script somehow doesn't allow her to show her true ability. Between them, there is genuine chemistry ... you can feel the heat (!) But the dialogue is awkward and stiff ... and the movie drags almost half of its time on them. Linda Hunt, on the other hand, steals the show with her remarkable gender-bending performance as enigmatic and passionate Billy Kwan. Her performance is seamless and of immense heart and honesty. She perfectly nails down a very complex character. It won her a well-deserved Oscar. But, Hunt's remarkable performance is not enough to save the entire movie. Meanwhile, the setting looks authentic, it certainly looks like Jakarta: the people, the atmosphere, the buildings, and yet, they were shot in the Philippines with mainly Filipino cast. Overall, the movie is rather subdued.
My judgement: ** out of 4 stars
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