Oranges and Sunshine
Between the 1920s and 1970s thousands of British children were forced to migrate to Australia under the guise that their parents had died. These children, many of whom were already in state care, were told that Australia would offer them a ‘better life’. Children could look forward to ‘oranges and sunshine’. Not only were these children wrongfully taken, in many cases without consent from their parents, but once they arrived in Australia they suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Only very recently, in 2009, did the government officially acknowledge this forced migration and the mistreatment of these children within Australian institutions. The revelation of these events was largely possible because of the work of a British social worker Margaret Humphreys, who began work on a handful of cases in 1986.
Jim Loach’s first feature film Oranges and Sunshine follows this harrowing story, focusing particularly on the gradual unfolding of evidence discovered by Humphreys. Margaret Humphreys (Emily Watson) is first approached by Charlotte (Federay Holmes), an Australian woman seeking to find her true identity. In a group therapy class, Humphreys meets another women Nicky (Lorraine Ashbourne) who, through bleary eyes, speaks of a lost brother whom she believes was sent to Australia as a child. Humphreys begins an intense investigation into what truly happened to these children, which takes her to Australia. Once in Australia, Humphreys reacquaints Nicky with her brother Jack (Hugo Weaving) and meets Len (David Wenham), a character who uses arrogance to disguise his pain.
Loach was very careful not to make this story too sensationalised or sentimental. He refrained from using ‘flashbacks’ of the children’s experiences, instead portraying the poignant one-to-one therapy sessions between Humphreys and several of the affected adults. These people spoke in vivid detail of their loss of childhood and the atrocities they experienced in homes run by the Christian Brothers institutions. The film also reveals some of the flow on effects of such incidences – depression and family dysfunction.
As a projectionist at the State Cinema, I have noticed the effect Oranges and Sunshine has had on people. When I open the door to the cinema, people slowly empty the space with red eyes, often imbued by the sadness and strength of the story Loach has told. Watching the film myself, I heard muffled sobs, many my own. Oranges and Sunshine adds necessary detail to the image of our past and reminds us of the will of people to overcome adversity.
