ORANGES & SUNSHINE
By Jim Loach • 2012 • 105’ • UK
REVIEWS
“Audiences may well be in tears just minutes into ORANGES & SUNSHINE, a deeply moving study of emotionally scarred adults who were illegally deported as children to Australia from Britain in the 1940s and ’50s. Toplining a superb Emily Watson as Margaret Humphreys… this standout debut by British director Jim Loach, will make a strong claim for arthouse cinema everywhere… In the best tradition of British social realism, Denson Baker’s largely handheld camera is steady and unobtrusive.”
– Variety
“[A]n emotional bombshell of a film that will leave audiences shaken. Based on Humphreys’ 1994 book Empty Cradles, the work marks an impressive directing debut by Jim Loach… Although dealing with dramatically charged subject matter, Loach and screenwriter Rona Munro (LADYBIRD LADYBIRD) handle the film’s emotional content in a particularly controlled and effective way.”
– Screen International
★★★★ “A heroic, heartfelt central performance by Emily Watson as the crusading (and humanly frail) social worker who uncovers the truth. A sensitive, beautifully crafted tearjerker.”
– Timeout
★★★★ “As for Loach, he has clearly inherited his father’s sense of film being a vehicle for entertainment and education yet also finds a voice which is his own. This may be a tale of heartache and horror but Loach evokes many warm and tender moments between his conflicted characters, which keep the emotions engaged even as the intellect reels.”
– The Observer
★★★★ “[A] hugely moving story combined with poignant personal stories with seething political anger… The film could so easily have been a strident melodrama — there are easy tears to be wrought from long over-due family reunions. But Loach and his screenwriter Rona Munro display exquisite restraint and a quiet sensitivity that makes the film all the more heart-breaking.”
– The Big Issue
★★★★ “Jim Loach has two obstacles to overcome with his debut. First, how to do justice to one of the worst British Scandals of the 21st Century: namely the shameful deportation of children to abusive care homes in Australia. Second how to step out from the shadow cast by his father Ken? Well here he triumphs on both fronts with a harrowing but beautifully told story starring masterful Emily Watson.”
- The Daily Telegraph
“What sets this film apart is a pair of extraordinary performances from by Hugo Weaving and David Wenham. Desperately affecting, Oranges and Sunshine is a testament to the human spirit.”
- Tatler
“Director Jim Loach, working from a lean script by Rona Munro, has crafted a film that breaks your heart and milks more than a few tears in telling what became of some of those children. At the film’s centre is Emily Watson’s pitch-perfect performance as Margaret Humphreys. She’s matched by Hugo Weaving’s wrenching turn as middle-aged depressive Jack, who was duplicitously taken from his mother when he was 10.”
– The Village Voice, New York
“Emily Watson, who always brings a special grace to the screen, gives a multilayered performance to the role of Margaret Humphreys. Give credit to director Jim Loach (son of Ken) for using practically no flashbacks, which could have rendered the movie a cliche, and instead allowing the adults (including Hugo Weaving as the shell-shocked Jack and David Wenham as the bitter Len) to express successfully the pain and fear they endured as children.”
– San Francisco Chronicle
“Loach makes a film that exceeds all expectations. The story of his heroine is told with balance of sobriety and emotional involvement. Oranges and Sunshine shows us how the stories of these “ex-children” fill the main character’s head. The sequence in which she symbolically confronts the Catholic priests while they have their tea is a moment of great cinema and merges a directorial vocation and exceptional sensitivity, giving to the public’s memory the right perspective on the irreparable injustices inflicted upon thousands of innocents.”
– Close up, Italy
“[D]irector Jim Loach has inherited his father Ken’s skill of presenting heart-breaking, gritty realism without ever reverting to sentimentalism or manipulation. Each story and performance is flawless and incredibly powerful. As middle-aged men break down recounting tales of emotional, physical and sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of their so-called guardians, it’s impossible not to be moved. Hugo Weaving in particular is scene-stealing as a kind hearted and vulnerable man whose shyness conveys a lifelong belief that he was never loved or wanted. Restrained, beautifully shot and emotionally draining, Loach’s debut film is heart-wrenching stuff. Watch with a box of tissues.”
– Hot Press, Ireland
“Worthy it may be but it’s also heart-warming and exciting in equal measure; a mystery thriller of sorts about the human condition. As dark as the subject matter sounds however this is an uplifting occasionally amusing film and Wenham’s laconic Len is a hoot at times despite his pain. Director Jim Loach obviously has his father Ken’s touch for gritty stories. Don’t miss this, it’s a real treasure.”
– Brisbane News, Australia