Oranges and Sunshine [DVD]

This film is incredible.

It is a powerful story of triumph over adversity, its shocking, heartbreaking and astounding.

Hugo Weaving and Emily Watson are utterly brilliant in their leading roles, the level of emotion and truth is astonishing, i am surprised that they have not been nominated for awards for their performances.

A great supporting cast include David Wenham from lord of the rings fame.

Brief Synopsis:

Oranges and Sunshine tells the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals in recent times: the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom.
Almost singlehandedly, against overwhelming odds and with little regard for her own well-being, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.
She discovered a secret that the British government had kept hidden for years: one hundred and thirty thousand children in care had been sent abroad to commonwealth countries, mainly Australia.
Children as young as four had been told that their parents were dead, and been sent to children's homes on the other side of the world. Many were subjected to appalling abuse. They were promised oranges and sunshine, they got hard labour and life in institutions.(sic)

Both the British and Australian Governments have apologised now for their involvements in this scandal, but its a little too late. To be honest i am appalled that not only the Government knew about it but that they were the ones that did it.

When you see what these poor kids go through i am amazed that nobody has bought a criminal suit against them (the british and australian governments) for wilful neglect and abuse and intentional physical and emotional distress.

I really could not recommend this film highly enough, it is quite simply incredible, be warned though that you will cry, a lot, and im not just talking about you ladies either, the scenes where they reunite some of these children with the parents they were told were dead will have you sobbing.

If i could rate it higher i would!!

The cruel deception of thousands of British children in care, misinformed that they were orphans and then transported to Australia as a cost-saving policy continued until as recently as 1970. A documentary of this would be shocking enough, but the director Jim Loach, carrying on his father Ken's tradition, achieves an even more powerful effect by making this a docudrama.

Emily Watson gives a convincing and moving performance as the determined real-life social worker Margaret Humphreys who discovered by chance that this injustice existed, and that many children had suffered hardship, even abuse, providing cheap labour for the Christian Brothers in Australia. Her establishment of the Child Migrants Trust has helped to put many naturalised Australians back in touch with their birth parents in Britain after decades of separation, but the indelible effects of childhood trauma often remain. We see the irony that Humphreys' dedication to making amends for the cruelty of others was often at the expense of giving enough time to her own children.

This thought-provoking and well-made film is worth seeing. It may leave you depressed for a while but we can't pretend ostrich-like that this never happened.

A truly excellent film, concerning what must be one the the biggest cover-ups & social injustices ever. Brilliant cast, a must-see film