ORANGES AND SUNSHINE

The credits are rolling on Oranges and Sunshine and so I haven't had any time to properly process it. I don't quite know how to write about it and so I'll start by saying that I feel heartbroken. During the early century through to the 1970s the British and Australian governments, along with the Church ran an organised child migration scheme in which thousands of children living in care were sent to Australia and raised in institutions. They were fed lies that their parents were dead and that Australia offered a sort of utopia. Upon arrival they were shipped off to more orphanages and various institutes where many were neglected and abused. Orange And Sunshine tells the true story of Margaret Humphries, a social worker who stumbled upon the case. Over many years she worked to bring closure to the children (now adults) and to expose the governments and Church's involved. The film works on a very emotional level and the performances are brilliant. David Wenham and Hugo Weaving are particularly good, delivering complex and immersed performances. Emily Watson leads the film and she too is excellent. Along with the stolen generation, this movie represents one of the darkest chapters in Australian history. Curiously when the film ends and additional information is written on the screen, the fact that the Australian and British governments issued formal apologies to the lost children in 2009 and 2010 has been omitted or ignored. Anyhow, this film resonated with me. Great stuff.

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