Balibo (Robert Connolly, 2009): Australia

Reviewed by Gillian Weiner. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

BALIBO

B eautifully sad. This film is the story of the hunt to find the infamous Balibo Five who were murdered by the Indonesians during the incursions before the invasion. The story is filled with beautiful shots of both Australia and East Timor. What is sad is the fact that the villagers can’t run free on their land, they are prisoners to the Indonesian guerrillas. Daily men, women, and children were murdered. One of the final scenes is the most blunt and disturbing (because it’s true) scenes ever.

A wareness. This film brought awareness of the Balibo Five and East Timor’s struggles to many people. It was very eye-opening to learn about the journalist struggles. Also, to learn about Jose Ramos-Horta’s story and how he did almost anything to help his people and to bring them one day to freedom was genuinly inspiring. A man very worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize for peacefully continuing his efforts to end the occupation and for always fighting for what he believed in.

L oyality was a major theme throughout the film. The Balibo Five were loyal to themselves and wanted to get the correct and compelling story to take back to Australia to provoke some sort of help. Roger East was loyal to Jose and ended up (with some hesitation) helping him find the journalists or find who murdered them. Despite his uneasiness, in the end Roger was loyal to himself and to the people he cared about. However, it didn’t end well for Roger; much like it didn’t end well for the citizens of East Timor.

I nteresting to say the least. This film started a little messy but got better from there. Since it was a true story, it was that much more interesting and hit that much closer to home. We weren’t sure why Roger East decided to go look for the Balibo Five but we were happy he wanted to help Jose and then eventually find justice for the five young men.

B est editing. I thought the editing was seamless and told the story perfectly. It lasted just enough time on the horrible murder shots and same goes for the beautiful panoramic shots of Australia and Indonesia. The whole time the audience was wrapped up in the story and couldn’t wait to see how it ended. If that’s not good editing, I don’t know what is.

O rganic. Every aspect flowed really well. The story to the actors seemed like they were actually living during the Indonesian takeover as well as Roger East’s true, disturbing tale that got him killed. When you get goosebumps from the actors performances, that’s organic. All the pain and the tears feel natural and real. It’s truly amazing how all the actors all managed to perform that perfectly especially with such a disturbing story line.