Balibo

Friday night saw me and one of my best friends Tommy T head to Dendy in the city and catch the new Australian film, Balibo. I was really excited about seeing this film, as it has been talked up by many film critics and I believe will help go along way in selling the credentials of the Australian film industry to both domestic and international audiences. It is also nice to go to a mainstream cinema and see Australian's telling Australian stories.

Balibo, re-tells the story of the five Australian journalists (commonly referred to as the Balibo Five) who were covering the imminent invasion of East Timor by Indonesia after East Timor had declared Independence from the Portuguese in 1975.

When it was clear that something had happened to the five, East Timorese Freedom Fighter Jose Ramos -Horter (Oscar Issac) convinces another Australian journalist Roger East (Anthony LaPaglia) to find out what happened to the Balibo Five and tell the world their story.

Anthony LaPaglia as Roger East

The film is told in three ways, by the Balibo Five themselves, through Roger East and also through a witness who lived through the 1975 ordeal as a small girl in Dili. The majority of the story is told by Roger East and for the most this method works, however at times, and especially at the end, a simpler way of explaining what happened should have been used as it depicts the tragic events that unfolded in a far too complex way.

The way that the film's director (Robert Connolly) sets the amazing cruelty of the Indonesian army against the beautiful backdrop of the forests of East Timor is intense. Stand out performances by Oscar Isaac and Damon Gameau, (who plays Channel 7 reporter Grey Shackleton), make the portrayals of their characters authentic and enjoyable. However unfortunately the same can not be said for Anthony LaPaglia. Undoubtedly one of Australia's finest actors, you only need to look at his acting in Lantana to see that, but in Balibo his performance was underrated and in the end scene was incredibly lacking. However the scenes with him and the Timorese hotel girl was very touching.


Damon Gameau as Ch 7 reporter Greg Shackelton

As the final credits rolled, Tommy T and I almost in unison said to each other "I am not ok". We were mostly not ok for two reasons. Firstly for the sheer violence that happened in East Timor by the Indonesian Army in 1975 and also because the Australian Government at the time did nothing to help either the people of East Timor nor the Balibo Five.

Balibo is an incredibly important film for all Australian's, its telling of one of Australia's worst war-journalism tragedies is a haunting reminder of just how much danger journalists reporting war will put themselves into so that people watching the news will know the truth.

3.5 stars.