The Critical Filmmaker

Oranges and Sunshine is an interesting, compelling film based on the true story of Maragaret Humphries and her response to hearing that millions of British children were shipped out to Australia and used as slave labor. It's a shocking revelation that's very difficult to imagine.  Young children led to believe that their parents were dead and promised a sunnier life in Australia, when in truth their parents were very much alive, believing their child was dead.  Yes, the child was snatched from the parents.  They were not given voluntarily. And that sunny life?  Well, it might be sunny in Australia, but the kids didn't enjoy that life there.  Most were abused and sent to manual labor. The film delves into Margaret's (Emily Watson) battle with the government to bring attention to this issue and to reunite these people with their families.  Now adults, they have deep scars from what happened to them.  Hugo Weaving and David Wenham star as two of ...

Film:   Little Fish Starring :  Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Dustin Nguyen, Sam Neill, Martin Henderson, Joel Tobeck Director:   Rowan Woods   Screenwriter :  Jacqueline Perske Based on a short film by Rowan Woods called Tran the Man , Little Fish is about a woman trying to turn her life around after beating her drug habit, but no matter what that life keeps rearing its ugly head and she must take extreme measures to start fresh. Cate Blanchett is Tracy, a manager at a local video store who dreams up the idea of expanding the business to the internet.  Sadly, she doesn't have the money to do it.  Her brother, Ray (Martin Henderson) meanwhile, is still involved in drug dealing, despite her best efforts to steer him otherwise.  Then there's Lionel (Hugo Weaving), an addict who finds himself cut off from his supplier (Sam Neill) who claims to be retiring from the business.  Tracy as a thing for Lionel, but his drug habit gets in the ...