Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)

play Violence – low
Email a link to this page
To:
CC:
Subject:
Body:
clip Getting the shots

Original classification rating: M. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

Billy Kwan (Linda Hunt) and Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson) film a communist youth demonstration in the streets of Jakarta. As the demonstration gets out of hand, the demonstrators turn on Billy, trying to stop him filming. Hamilton is fearless in defending him and gets a machete wound in the leg. They are both elated by the work.

Curator’s notes

by Paul Byrnes

This is a very intense and exciting sequence, full of the menace of mob events and the pure thrill of being a journalist in the midst of danger. The two Indonesians in the front seat are petrified, fully aware of the risks, but Kwan and Hamilton are having fun. When someone cuts his leg, Hamilton laughs; he’s so pumped with adrenaline that he hardly notices.

Weir creates a great sense of events out of control and the feeling of a huge crowd, although there are not that many people. It’s done with low angles, dense sound and by keeping the camera in close, so that the demonstrators are constantly pressing around Hamilton and the car. The sequence also establishes the increasing rapport between Guy and Billy, and Guy’s courage in protecting his friend – or perhaps he’s protecting the man with the camera, out of mutual self-interest.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer Getting the shots from the feature film The Year of Living Dangerously as a high quality video download.

To play the downloadable video, you need QuickTime 7.0, VLC, or similar.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before downloading the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

This clip is available in the following configurations:

File nameSizeQualitySuitability
yearofli2_pr.mp4 Large: 21.8MB High Optimised for full-screen display on a fast computer.
yearofli2_bb.mp4 Medium: 10.3MB Medium Can be displayed full screen. Also suitable for video iPods.

Right-click on the links above to download video files to your computer.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer this clip in an embeddable format for personal or non-commercial educational use in full form on your own website or your own blog.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before embedding the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

Copy and paste the following code into your own web page to embed this clip: