Oranges and Sunshine (2010)
Storyline
The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.
Directors
Cast
David Wenham, Hugo Weaving, Emily Watson, Geoff Morrell, Aisling Loftus, Lorraine Ashbourne, Tara Morice, Stuart Wolfenden, Richard Dillane, Molly Windsor, Kate Rutter, Federay Holmes, Harvey Scrimshaw, Tammy Wakefield, Marg Downey, Geoff Revell, Chrissie Page, Barbara Marten, Tanya Myers, Russell Dykstra, Greg Stone, Alastair G. Cumming, Robert Purdy, Carolina Giammetta, Mark Jardine
Trailer
Reviews
90
Village Voice
At the film's center is Emily Watson's pitch-perfect performance as Margaret Humphreys, the real-life social worker who in 1986 stumbled over the hidden practice.
80
A deeply moving study of emotionally scarred adults who were illegally deported as children to Australia from Britain in the 1940s and '50s.
80
The movie belongs to Hugo Weaving and David Wenham, both playing what one newspaper dubs "the lost children of the Empire," men broken by the appalling conditions that met them in their new homeland.
60
Empire
Moving if low-key, Jim Loach's debut feature is proof that compassionate, socially conscious filmmaking runs in the family.
60
Rona Munro's screenplay for Oranges and Sunshine is unnecessarily flighty. As the story ricochets between Britain and Australia, the film often loses track of time and becomes fragmented as it struggles to integrate too many subplots. What holds it together is Ms. Watson's calm, sturdy performance.
