In 1788 the British government began sending criminals to their colony of Australia. It seems that after almost 200 years they decided to start up again, but with children instead.
This is a pretty amazing story of how children were deported from England in the 50's - 70's. What makes it more amazing is that these were not orphaned children but ones that had been taken from their mother because it was believed she could not take care of them. I'm always amazed at how governments think that they can hide secrets like this. There is always someone who will uncover the secret. While they say that they were 'just doing it for the interests of the children' then why do they have to keep it a secret. Possibly because the people they sent them to in Australia mistreated them. This time the government is covering up the sexual exploits of the Catholic church. Margaret Humphreys an amazing woman who put her life on hold to investigate the lives of the children who were deported. Much like women who take on crusades she has to sacrifice time with her family to make this issue right. As a film the story is told well but is mostly a series of stories the people tell about their experiences of being deported. While this may not sound too interesting but director Jim Loach and writer Rona Munro have made it interesting. There were a few problems I had with character motivation but all up it is a decent telling of a terrible event in history.
Emily Watson is an excellent dramatic actress. While she can be a bit dour she is still very good at conveying the emotions of her character. She is also able to play the ordinariness of her character so you don't think of her as a superwoman despite the amazing things she is doing. Hugo Weaving is simply amazing in his role as one of the many people's stories we hear about. His character is sweet and charming and glad that Margaret is looking into his family history. He is balanced out by David Wenham who starts off as very unappealing guy who does not believe Margaret can help him to someone who becomes like a sidekick to her.
Not a terribly glamorous film but a good retelling of an atrocity in English/Australian history. Make sure you have tissues handy as well.
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