Balibo Review

I was first made aware of the events that Baliboportrays by the Noam Chomsky documentaryManufacturing Consent. In 1975, the Indonesian military invaded East Timor. Five journalists of the Australian media were covering the invasion – which was basically a massacre, during which time over 180,000 were killed – and eventually lost their lives, killed by the Indonesian army (who maintain to this day that the journalists were caught in the crossfire, rather than executed as the coroner’s report states). Days later, another journalist, Roger East, headed out to East Timor to find out what happened to the Balibo Five. Balibo follows East in his quest for truth.

The Chomsky documentary used the East Timor invasion as an example of the Western media’s disproportionate coverage of potentially unpopular stories – that the invasion, comparable as it was to Pol Pot’s ‘Year Zero’ Cambodian massacre (depicted in the thematically similar The Killing Fields), was given but a fraction of the reportage that the latter received. Chomsky should be pleased then, that this appalling chapter of twentieth century history is being given some attention. I had the pleasure of seeing the film a couple of years ago at the London Film Festival and it is heartening to see it receiving the DVD release it deserves.

Using the framing device of a researcher questioning a survivor of the invasion, recreations of the Balibo Five’s footage and experiences (presented in beautifully grainy 70s style footage) and footage of East and Timorese Foreign Minister José Ramos-Horta retracing the journalist’s steps, director Robert Connolly shows us a series of events, by turns distressing, tragic and abhorrent. That the events depicted are true is both shocking and quietening.

The film is more than worthy of carrying the burden of bringing the truth of the events to screen however – beautifully shot and brilliantly acted, Balibo takes a horrible event and creates a compelling and all-too watchable film. Anthony LaPaglia and Oscar Isaac as East and Ramos-Horta give a pair of excellent central performances and the relationship between the two men is impeccably judged.

The film has more to it than simply a depiction of human tragedy though – there are interesting observations made about the nature and importance of journalism, race politics in the media and the need to rise above personal foibles in order to undertake a greater duty. This may sound rather portentous, but Balibo comes across as anything but, seeming almost like an action adventure at times.

Last month, I reviewed Tomorrow, When the War Began, another Australian film about a foreign invasion, which I enjoyed with some reservations. That film however, is revealed for the fluff it is in comparison to Balibo, which is the kind of film that you really ought to make an effort to see. You will feel good for doing so.