Film Reviews

Oranges and Sunshine

• Rating:
• Director: Jim Loach
• Starring: Emily Watson
• Details: UK/Australia / 105mins (15A).

The orange doesn't fall far from the tree it seems. Jim Loach, son of Ken (who has Route Irish out right now) makes his debut and guess what? It's a socially conscious character-driven film. No surprises there, then. But where it lacks in surprises, Oranges And Sunshine, which is based on a true story, certainly hits the right notes. Hankies at the ready...
It's Nottingham, 1986, and social worker Margaret Humphreys (Watson) is approached by an Australian woman asking to be reunited with her British mother: the woman claims to have been aboard a ship full of orphaned children aged 5-13 years old who were sent to Australia in the 50s and 60s. Margaret finds this story hard to believe, as there is no way the British and Australian governments would be in cahoots in the organised deportation of children in state care. But Margaret is wrong. After a little research she learns that there were thousands of children - among them the now grown up Hugo Weaving and David Wenham - who were shipped out to a glorified work farm run by the Christian Brothers in the outback. All suffered physical and sexual abuse but because they were told their parents were dead, which was a lie, they accepted their fate. Margaret goes about righting this wrong by attempting to reunite the 'children' with their families.
Okay, so there is a bit of Noel's Christmas Presents about Oranges And Sunshine, adapted from Humphrey's book Empty Cradles, in that it shamelessly aims to dampen those tear ducts, but it succeeds. And how. Watson is in the Sandra Bullock mode here: a Dudlette Do Right; but where Bullock had no obstacles in her path in the terrible The Blind Side, the difference here is that Watson comes up against two guarded governments - those refusing to believe the situation, and the fact that clerical abuse in 1986 wasn't as public as it is now. Added to that is her mental health and and marriage suffers due to all the time she spends in Australia. Watson, one of the finest and consistent actresses working in film today, is on form again.
As Margaret listens to the endless parade of stories depicting the abuse they suffered (including a touching and subtle turn from Hugo Weaving), David Wenham's cheery Len oddly stands out. At first cynical of Margaret's plans, Len soon gets on board and takes her, and the audience, to the notorious work farm in the outback. His peculiar flippant attitude to his awful childhood sticks out awkwardly but it's a welcome if unsettling approach to a role that could have easily disappeared into the rank and file of the others.
Oranges And Sunshine is a feel good movie, but Loach, and his first time screenwriter Rona Munro, certainly make the audience work for it with the terrible stories on show.

Review by Gavin Burke