SummaryOrange and Sunshine tells the true story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker who uncovered one of the most controversial scandals in recent times; the organized deportation of innocent children from the United Kingdom to Australia, where they were thought to be lost in the system forever. Almost single-handedly, against overwhelming odds, and... Read More
Directed By:Jim Loach
Written By:Rona Munro, Margaret Humphreys
Oranges and Sunshine
Metascore
Mixed or Average
60
User score
Generally Favorable
6.9
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
60
47% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
41% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
12% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Oct 18, 2011
90
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.
Oct 18, 2011
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.
Oct 27, 2011
75
Emily Watson, who always brings a special grace to the screen, gives a multilayered performance to the role of Margaret Humphreys.
Oct 20, 2011
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.
Oct 20, 2011
50
Sometimes the facts can get in the way of the drama, and that's the central problem here. That sense of needing to be true to the record is reflected in an overwhelmed screenplay.
Oct 17, 2011
38
The film is so careful to avoid the luridness that would seem inevitably to accompany an excavation of child kidnapping, forced labor, and rape, that the result is a plodding, overly tasteful procedural that holds up its hero as an incorruptible embodiment of goodness.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.9
57% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
43% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Jun 29, 2012
9
I would have given this a ten but there were times when some of the dialogue of those being interviewed was lost. It didn't matter that it was lost because you easily grasped what had taken place but if you want to draw the viewer into the film and involve them emotionally then you need to make sure that there are no missing pieces. Emily Watson was perfectly cast and as I watched I was reminded so much of Mike Nichol's Silkwood. Maybe because the heroine reminded me so much of the heroine in Silkwood. The acting is above average and last scenes of the men being interviewed by Humprey's is riveting and heart breaking. The other issue is that this was so underplayed. Not by the actors but by the director and the screenwriter. This was a missed opportunity. An incredible story of so many British children taken and used as slave labor, abused, molested, It's a sad revealation.
Production Company:
- Screen Australia
- See-Saw Films
- Little Gaddesden Productions
- Fulcrum Media Finance
- EM Media
- The South Australian Film Corporation
- Deluxe Australia
- Screen New South Wales
- BBC Film
- Sixteen Films
Release Date:Oct 21, 2011
Duration:1 h 46 m
Rating:R
Tagline:A Tragedy That Spanned Decades. A Love That Crossed Continents. A Triumph That Changed Two Nations.
Awards
IF Awards
• 2 Wins & 8 Nominations
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards
• 1 Win & 7 Nominations
Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards
• 2 Wins & 4 Nominations
