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Bookmark this pageBalibo (2009)
Director: Robert Connolly
Movie review
From Time Out Online
Anyone hoping – like agitator John Pilger – for a searing exposé of the Aussie government's alleged complicity in the violent Indonesian takeover of East Timor in 1975 isn't going to find it here. 'Balibo' isn't out to point fingers or ruffle feathers, but to mourn the dead, in this case five young Australian journalists brutally murdered by Indonesian troops as they tried to cover the invasion from the front lines. It's yet another story of white folks in peril, the difference being that 'Balibo' acknowledges the fact, and plays on the dichotomy between third-world reality and Western audience expectation with wit and subtlety. It's all a tad worthy and manipulative, but there are a few powerfully honest moments here, many of them stemming from LaPaglia's powerhouse central performance.Author: Tom Huddleston
Time Out Online London Film Festival 2009
Cast & crew
Director: Robert Connolly
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Damon Gameau, Anthony LaPaglia full cast
Genre(s): Drama
Duration: 111 mins
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