MovieChat Forums > Balibo (2009) Discussion > Symbolism of the fish?

Symbolism of the fish?

posted 14 years ago by EvilBaldDude
3 replies | jump to latest

Roger East sees ><((((º> at various points in the film. Can anyone say what it is that ><((((º> symbolise about East's story?

[–] laurentmaghuin 14 years ago

Well if I understand it correctly, the fish symbolizes Roger. When he's in the hotel for his first meal in East-Timor, he get's the koko-fish. The fish is a bit the same as Roger:

- The fish is from the south (It's where Roger is going)

- The fish go upstream to fulfill their destiny -breed- and they to go to the sea (Roger goes north to fulfill his destiny/his mission -to tell the story of the Balibo5- and the goes back to the sea and there he dies amongst the fish)

- The fish is clever according to the man, but he's actually referring to Roger that in all his actions (that may seem stupid for some of us), he is actually a smart and responsable man.

Well that's my take of the fish, I hope it made some sense for you :)

[–] nbjeff 13 years ago

Christian symbolism associated with sacrifice. The journalists are disciples and martyrs, "fishers of men," dedicated to bearing witness and spreading the word about genocidal injustice in Timor. The Australian coin is tied into this symbolism (the Jesus parable of the coin in the fish's mouth.)

The empires of the future will be empires of the mind.

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

Christian symbolism associated with sacrifice.

Agreed! East Timor is largely a Christian country as opposed to Indonesia, the largest Islamic country in the world. The locals always tried to point this sort of thing out to apologists of the invasion who argued that the Timorese would be comfortably culturally absorbed into the Indonesian "family".