Film Chronicles

Tony Scudder

March 18, 2011

 

In November 2009, the Australian government apologised for the abuse and neglect of up to 30,000 British child migrants, some of whom grew up not knowing their parents were still alive. The British government apologised in February 2010. Australia also apologised to the 500,000 Australian children taken from their homes and placed in care across the country. Amazingly, this was all happening until the late 60’s. This film tells the true story of social worker Margaret Humphries (Emily Watson) who uncovered the scandal in 1986. Given the resources to follow up the scandal, she begins a life of travelling back and forth between the UK and Oz, gradually bringing tragic stories of ruined childhoods out into the open.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sadder movie than ‘Oranges and Sunshine’. I was literally welling up through most of the film. It’s an horrific story that you not only couldn’t make up, you simply wouldn’t want to! I came out of the cinema so angry at government officials of the 50’s and 60’s who would have known about the system but kept quiet. I don’t want to describe what some of the children had to go through both in carehomes and religious settlements in Australia, but they were treated as less-than-human and terribly abused. The film doesn’t hold back from what went on. It’s unbelievable to think that UK was complicit in child slavery within the last fifty years.
The three stars of the film (Emily Watson, alongside Hugo Weaving and David Wenham as two victims of the system) all put their heart and soul into honouring the real-life characters they play, and debutante director Jim Loach (son of Ken) has made a film his father would be proud to have his name on.
This is my film of 2011 so far, so please do go and see it. And take a big hanky for those tears.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE