The Year of Living Dangerously

I thought this movie was ok, and I'm glad I watched it, but I don't know if I would recommend this movie to someone else or watch it again. I was never familiar with the Communinist party or the civil war in Jakarta because I do not know a lot about Indonesia or anything that goes on in that part of the world. The only reason I'm familiar with Balinese Gamelan music and the Javanese shadow puppets is because I was introduced to this culture and its different art forms in MUSC 120 with Randy Griswold a year ago. I really liked Linda Hunt's character, Billy, although I was confused by his character because I wasn't sure about what gender he is. I was truly appaled when Guy & the other reporter who was a total pervert went to the cemetary so that the pervert reporter could pick up one of the prostitutes - it was sad how desparate these women were to be able to make some food by advertising themselves in order to make a buck. I felt sorry for Guy because, towards the end of the movie, he wasn't sure who he could trust, which was portrayed during his dream when Tiger Lily was drowning him in the pool. The part where Billy went crazy and decided to be a martyr for making known and criticizing Sukarno's failure to meet the needs of most Indonesians made me really sad. One wonders if he was really thrown out by the men or if he threw himself out in order to send out a message. While I was half expecting Guy to be watching the plane flying away when he got to the airport, I'm really glad Guy was able to give up the story of a lifetime for his love and leave Jakarta with her.