Oranges and Sunshine
Oranges and Sunshine tells the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals of recent times: the deportation of thousands of children from the United Kingdom to Australia. Almost single-handedly, against overwhelming odds and with little regard for her own well-being, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and drew worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice. 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.
- Director
- Jim Loach
- Writers
- Rona Munro
- Actors
- Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham
- Genre
- Drama
- Run Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes
Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes
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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.
Stephen Holden, New York Times, 10.20.2011 -
Sometimes the facts can get in the way of the drama, and that's the central problem here.
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times, 10.20.2011 -
Oranges and Sunshine is thrillingly efficient filmmaking.
Ernest Hardy, Village Voice, 10.18.2011 -
Emily Watson, who always brings a special grace to the screen, gives a multilayered performance to the role of Margaret Humphreys, who not only puts her own family dynamic at risk but finds herself physically threatened.
Leba Hertz, San Francisco Chronicle, 10.27.2011
