War correspondent Roger East and the young Jose Ramos-Horta travel to East Timor to investigate the murders of the Balibo Five in 1975.War correspondent Roger East and the young Jose Ramos-Horta travel to East Timor to investigate the murders of the Balibo Five in 1975.War correspondent Roger East and the young Jose Ramos-Horta travel to East Timor to investigate the murders of the Balibo Five in 1975.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 13 wins & 22 nominations total
Thomas M. Wright
- Brian Peters
- (as Thomas Wright)
José da Costa
- Sabika
- (as Jose da Costa)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
a film about East Timor. only at first sigh. in fact, a film about basic values of humanity.piece of a large and painful chronicle but, in same measure, a warning. its virtue - it can be more than picture of a case. it is an artistic form of testimony and the beauty and force of images are remarkable. but, in same measure, it is an honest manifesto about media role in political crisis, about sufferance, about the other. and this fact define it in same measure than nuances of performance - Anthony LaPaglia does an impressive role who represents mirror of a cruel reality. A film about essence of a world. not only a territory from Asia but remember of fight for liberty and respect in each part of world, of each period.
OK, but not great. Powerful subject, handled with the right degree of respect and gravity. Yet, it is missing something to make it truly interesting. Seems to drag, particularly in the early and middle stages, and, in some ways, feel like a documentary.
Robert Connolly's direction often leaves a lot to be desired: odd/bad camera angles, unsteady tracking shots.
Decent performances though, especially by Anthony LaPaglia as Roger East and Oscar Isaac as Jose Ramos-Horta.
Worth watching for educational purposes, and to show the depths to which humans will sink, but don't watch it hoping for a great drama.
Robert Connolly's direction often leaves a lot to be desired: odd/bad camera angles, unsteady tracking shots.
Decent performances though, especially by Anthony LaPaglia as Roger East and Oscar Isaac as Jose Ramos-Horta.
Worth watching for educational purposes, and to show the depths to which humans will sink, but don't watch it hoping for a great drama.
about war. and pain, and sufferance and hope. about people. and about the ideals. a film who reminds more than presents. because it is a simple story. not different but other stories of hate and idealism. but , impressive for the remarkable performances and for the atmosphere. for its message . and for the science to give a deeper image about a tragedy near us . to redefine the image and purpose of media. and to present the right portrait of the need to help against risks and against fear.
Here's a different kind of horror story, cause it's true. A beefed up La Paglia, plays real life journalist Roger East, encouraged by a young activist from Timor, to do a story of five Aussie journalists who have just disappeared. They were traveling to Balibo, where we see two stories in play, between La Paglia and Company, and the five journal's ride to death, where the last ten minutes of the movie, hits hard and will affect, especially people who were there, when the country fell under evil Indonesian rule for the next, twenty four years, from which the activist who fled from the country all that time, returned, where there were no hard feelings from other people. La Paglia is really good, but so is the rest of the cast, Gameau's performance I really liked, apart from him being such a likable actor. The period is captured really well, again, a warning of what a dangerous place East Timor was. There are some scenes that will disturb, one in particular brought back memories of the scene in Salvador, with all those stretched out bodies in that big round pit. The story is a young surviving woman, who was a little girl at the time, where the little actress gave a cute performance. A really very disciplined approach to story.
A little known story about genocide in East Timor is well portrayed by Anthony LaPaglia and Oscar Isaac.
Did you know
- TriviaThe movie's release in Jakarta International Film Festival in 2009 was canceled due to the sensitive nature of the topic for the Indonesian government.
- GoofsAnthony La Paglia's tattoos, which are very visible at the bottom of his sleeves, are inconsistent with the era. Few people had tattoos then. Even fewer had such heavy tattoos.
- Quotes
Roger East: No... No... I'm Australian.
- How long is Balibo?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- The Balibo Conspiracy
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $922,612
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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