Set in Indonesia during a time of escalating tension between the dictator Sukarno and Communist rebels in 1965, Mel Gibson stars as Guy Hamilton, correspondent for an Australian radio network sent to Jakarta on his first foreign assignment.

Sabotaged by his predecessor and lacking contacts, he meets among the expatriate journalists a half Chinese, half English photographer named Billy Kwan (played by Linda Hunt, who won an Academy Award in her gender smashing portrayal here).

Billy is a dwarf and since no one has the courage to say “no” to him, he can go wherever and talk to whomever he pleases. He takes an immediate liking to the charismatic but morally ambiguous Hamilton and introduces him to regal British Embassy attaché Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver). Though she’s leaving the country soon, Billy’s matchmaking scheme is a success as the two develop a deep attraction to each other.

Jill confides to Hamilton that Sukarno is allowing the rebels to purchase arms. She hopes the information will prompt him to leave the country with her before the killing starts. Instead, Hamilton intends to run with the scoop, potentially sacrificing Jill’s reputation and shattering the faith Billy had in him as a man willing to put the fate of others before his own glory.

Directed by Peter Weir, The Year of Living Dangerously was released during a time when several political films – notably Missing, The Killing Fields and Salvador – took to task U.S. foreign policy for the violence unleashed by dictatorships in their battles against Communist rebels.

Weir was not interested in that, using the coup as a backdrop for a classic, end-of-summer romance of tremendous passion and sophistication. Gibson still had a boyish charm and audible Australian accent, and brought real character actor’s intensity to his role. Weaver is articulate and strong. Neither captured the intense level of chemistry at any other point in their careers that they found opposite each other for this film. For a scene where they’re caught in a downpour, even though they keep their hands to themselves, the attraction they convey is off the scale.

Linda Hunt’s casting was genius. She’s not playing a woman pretending to be a man; she just flat out does the part. She plays Gibson’s conscience, possessing an acute understanding of the world while unable to truly be a part of it. Billy introduces Hamilton to the real Jakarta, to the potential for a deep relationship with Jill and questions his morality, even when he tells Billy that he’s no dwarf, “That’s what I like about you Hamilton, you really don’t care, do you? Or maybe you just don’t see.”

Though shot in The Philippines, with many of the extras speaking Tagalong, not Javanese, the film achieves remarkable atmosphere. There’s the cluster of expats huddled in bars or Western hotels, most of them blind to the conditions in the slums. Weir captures both the wonder and the chaos of being immersed in such upheaval and destitution, where there’s no police protection, few laws and if you’re injured, don’t bother going to a hospital.

The screenplay – adapted by Weir, C.J. Koch and David Williamson from Koch’s award-winning novel – was rewritten to perfection, achieving an elegant balance between being mysterious and being on-the-nose. And the dialogue is great. When Weaver gives Gibson criticism on one of his broadcasts, commenting that there was one too many melodramatic references of him being moved to tears by poverty, he asks “What does it take to move you to tears, ay?” Her one word response as she calls it an evening: “Curfew.”

Peter Weir is an Australian filmmaker behind several classics, including Witness, Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show and Master and Commander, without one dumb commercial project or turkey anywhere in his career. He has a track record of consistently intelligent, thought provoking and profitable movies no other director I can think of has achieved. This one is his best.

Russell Boyd handled the elegant, understated cinematography while David Lean’s composer, Maurice Jarre, wrote the terrific Java inspired musical score.