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      Balibo

      2009 1 hr. 51 min. Drama Mystery & Thriller List
      100% 12 Reviews Tomatometer 80% 500+ Ratings Audience Score Roger East and Jose Ramos-Horta travel to East Timor to investigate the Balibo Five murders. Read More Read Less Watch on Peacock Stream Now

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      Balibo

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      Audience Reviews

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      ronald h This is a stunning film which didn't get much publicity in the U.S. I don't know if it's due to politics. Or maybe we're all so busy dealing with current day atrocities that we've all forgotten about the ones that took place in East Timor in the 1970's. Anthony LaPaglia is perfect in the role of Roger East, an aging, burned out Australian journalist who is invited by East Timor official Jose Ramos-Horta (Oscar Isaac) to come to his country and cover the Indonesian invasion of that small country. Ramos-Horta wants the world to know about the mass killing of his people. East is especially interested in the deaths of five young Australian TV journalists who were covering the invasion. Are five dead white people more newsworthy than thousands of poor indigenous dead people? Good question. Bottom line is, for political reasons, the Australian government didn't want anybody making a fuss about it. Both actors give heartfelt performances. The scenes of carnage are horrifying. The cinematography is glorious and painstakingly real. You feel like you are there. Filmmaker Robert Connolly has done something vastly important here. It shakes us out of our comfortable complacency. Unpleasant as the subject matter may be, it can't be dismissed. It made me think of the quote from Spanish philosopher George Santayana: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Watching Balibo was a pleasant surprise, I wasn't expecting much from this film. However, when the credits rolled I couldn't stop thinking about it for some time. Very strong performances from the main cast and my favourite role from Lapaglia. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member powerful. thought provoking. intense through and through. the story is a snapshot of a moment in time and world history told through the lens of these australian journalists and the timorese people that were living through this horrific era in their country's history. so moving to see the human scale impact of war and invasion and foreign policy. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Excellent scripting, cinamatography, and editing. Director was spot on in pulling together 3 separate time frames in a seamless fashion. Acting was very good and believable. Music was haunting, powerful; yet beautiful. Audiences worldwide need to see this docu-drama telling a little known real life event. How a more powerful country conquered a peaceful one, while the rest of the world's nations stood by doing nothing. Some aiding, abetting and/or heads stuck in the sand. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member A good historical piece on the death of the Balibo 5 during the Indonesian conquest of East Timor. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Interesting bio on real events. Great scenery. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (12) Critics Reviews
      Evan Williams The Australian Robert Connolly has made a brave and deeply disturbing film. Rated: 3/5 Aug 19, 2009 Full Review David Stratton At the Movies (Australia) Despite [the] drawbacks, Balibo still tells a very powerful story, one that needed to be told. Rated: 3.5/5 Aug 12, 2009 Full Review Giles Hardie Sydney Morning Herald The worst cliche in Australian cinema is that we have so many Australian stories that need to be told. Normally it is tripe. In the case of Balibo, they actually found one. Rated: 4/5 Aug 9, 2009 Full Review Rosa Parra Latinx Lens An impactful & unfortunate story about journalists who suffer consequences for reporting on dangerous political turmoil. Rated: 3.5/5 Nov 20, 2021 Full Review Matthew Pejkovic Matt's Movie Reviews BALIBO is a gritty political thriller, based on a hardly spoken international incident which held strong repercussions in Australia, and is sure to hit a raw nerve upon its release. Rated: 4/5 Aug 3, 2010 Full Review Chris Barsanti PopMatters ...intriguing but problematic melodrama Jun 11, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Roger East and Jose Ramos-Horta travel to East Timor to investigate the Balibo Five murders.
      Director
      Robert Connolly
      Executive Producer
      Andrew Barlow, Andrew Myer
      Screenwriter
      Robert Connolly, David Williamson
      Genre
      Drama, Mystery & Thriller
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Jan 18, 2020
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