Oranges and Sunshine is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered in 2010. The story is set in the UK and in Australia in the late 1980s.
This is the story about Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who discovered and documented a huge violation of human rights:
During the 1950s and the 1960s, hundreds of young children from poor families were removed from their parents in the UK and deported to Australia.
The children were never asked if they wanted to go. The parents were never asked if they wanted their children to go. In many cases, the parents did not even know about the deportation until after it had taken place.
In many cases, the children were told that their parents had died, even though it was not true. The purpose of this lie was to convince them that they had no reason to stay in the UK any longer.
The children were promised oranges and sunshine (hence the title of the movie).
But what they got was - in most cases - something completely different:
** Hard labour,
** Physical abuse and
** Neglect
The British authorities who had the children deported from the UK and the Australian authorities who allowed them to enter Australia were probably acting with good intentions. But as we know, good intentions do not guarantee a good result. As the famous proverb says, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The scale and duration of this project was extensive and what was even more surprising: it was completely unknown to the general public.
Nobody knew anything about it until Margaret began to talk about it and write about it – not only in the UK but also in Australia.
For Margaret, it was not enough to discover and document the case. She also wanted action. Searching through old records, she tried to locate the families of the deported children.
In some cases, she was able to locate a relative of a deported child.
In some cases, she was even able to re-unite a victim with a long-lost family member.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Director: Jim Loach
** Writer: Rona Munro
** Based on the book Empty Cradles by Margaret Humphreys (first published 1994) (reprinted 2011)
** Released on DVD in 2011
** Available via Amazon Prime Video
** Run time: 105 minutes
The cast includes the following:
The first group
** Emily Watson as Margaret Humphreys (born 1944) –
a social worker from Nottingham
** Richard Dillane as Merv Humphreys –
Margaret’s husband
The second group
** Hugo Weaving as Jack
** David Wenham as Len
** Tara Morice as Pauline
** Stuart Wolfenden as Bill
** Kate Rutter as Vera
** Lorraine Ashbourne as Nicky
** Molly Windsor as Rachel
Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. This is why I feel free to mention some of them here.
While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here, but the basic story is true.
In this drama, we follow Margaret as she stumbles upon this case in 1986. She tries to find out what happened when hundreds of young children were deported from the UK to Australia during the 1950s and the 1960s.
We see her with some of the victims; we also see her with some government officials who all deny any wrongdoing. The story ends two or three years later, in 1988 or 1989, when the case has come to the attention of the public.
What do reviewers say about this historical drama?
Here are the results of three review aggregators:
** 60 percent = Meta
** 71 percent = IMDb
** 70 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
** 70 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
On Amazon there are at the moment more than 700 ratings of this product, more than 300 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.5 stars which corresponds to a rating of 90 percent.
If you ask me, the three first ratings are too low, while the rating on Amazon is too high.
I like this movie and I want to give it a good rating, but I cannot go all the way to the top, because there are some flaws which cannot be ignored.
Let me explain:
# 1. Some scenes are rather strange. Perhaps the most striking case is a long scene towards the end of the movie where Margaret and Len visit the Christian Brothers in Bondoon, Australia.
Why is this scene included? What is the purpose? They arrive; they walk around; they sit down; they have a cup of tea; and then suddenly the scene is over. But there is no ending!
What is the message here?
What is the point of this scene?
# 2. The victims say they want to find out who they are.
They ask: “Can you find my mother?” Sometimes Margaret can, sometimes she cannot.
But the strange thing is – as several critical reviewers have pointed out – they only talk about the mother.
They never talk about the father. As far as I know, the word “father” is never mentioned in this movie. If a victim cannot find a mother, why not ask for a father?
Every child has two parents. If you want to find out who you are, it makes sense to look for both parents, and not only for the mother.
# 3. In one scene, Margaret is riding on a train with a victim whose mother Margaret has recently located. Later we see them as they are walking along a street.
The victim asks Margaret if she wants to join him when he will meet his mother for the first time since the deportation. She says no. This moment is not for her. It is for the son and his mother. Then they separate. Margaret walks away and the victim goes to meet his mother. But we never see what happens!
This is odd.
Perhaps Margaret does not want to be there, but the viewer wants to know what happens in this highly emotional moment. Why is this not shown?
The topic is important. The story deserves to be told. But unfortunately, this drama is not quite successful. There are some flaws, which cannot be overlooked. I have to remove one star because of them. This is why I think it deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
PS # 1. While most reviewers on Amazon are positive, there are some critical reviews. Many critical reviewers offer the same reason for a low rating: they say they have read the book and they feel the book is much better than the movie. They are disappointed with the movie.
This is a common problem, when a movie is based on a book. Many people who have read the book feel that something went wrong when the book was adapted for the screen.
PS # 2. In November 2009, Kevin Rudd (then Prime Minister of Australia) issued an official apology to the victims of the deportation program.
In February 2010, Gordon Brown (then Prime Minister of the UK) issued an official apology to the victims of the deportation.
PS # 3. For more information about this topic, see the following books:
Lost Children of the Empire
by Joy Melville & Philip Bean
(1989)
The Forgotten Children:
Fairbridge Farm School and its
Betrayal of Britain’s Child Migrants
by David Hill
(2017)
*****
Oranges and Sunshine
A historical drama
(based on a true story)
which premiered in 2010
*****
Empty Cradles
by Margaret Humphreys
(first published in 1994)
(reprinted in 2011)
A shameful secret
A miscarriage of justice
And a woman who wouldn't give up
*****
Margaret Humphreys
A social worker from Nottingham
(born 1944)
*****
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