Bodyline

A movie not only on Cricket, but also on values, ego, pride, human achievement. The movie takes place during the Bodyline Series, Between the England-Australia 'Ashes' Test Matches. A movie depicting the world's best ever cricketer - Don Bradman and one of the worlds fastest and most accurate bowlers of that time - Harold Larwood, it was a struggle to dismiss the Aussie Don Bradman.

Douglas Jardine's most outrageous plot, the tense cricket stadium atmosphere, the desire to win make this movie a must see.

A must-see for cricket fans. Characters are very well cast. They even give a very convincing batting, bowling and fielding performance. This movie really caught the spirit of cricket, it shows very convincingly how players are in a way obsessed and don't stop talking and thinking about the game.

The directors really knew what they were doing, have been observing and studying the matter thoroughly. Apart from the actors, scenery and original story the movie gives a chilling view on the English determination to beat the Aussies/Bradman. Even if it meant they had to abandon the gentleman-rules of the play. I wish I could get it on video or dvd, but they never released it to the public. May be a good idea to do it after all, I'd certainly buy a copy!

This mini-series depicts the most scandalous portion of Australian sporting history; when the touring English cricket team employed controversial tactics in order to try and win back "the ashes"; the symbolic cricketing trophy between England and Australia. Australians play all the major roles, including those of Englishmen, showing that for 1984, Australian acting and cinema had come of age and Australians could portray other nationalities in their own films.

Of special note in "Bodyline" is the early appearance of veteran Australian actor, Hugo Weaving ("Priscilla; Queen of the Desert", "Russian Doll", "The Matrix" etc)as the fussy and feisty England captain, Douglas Jardine. Look also for pretty-boy Gary Sweet as the evergreen Australian cricketing hero, Don Bradman and the venerable Frank Thring as Lord Jackson, the English cricketing president.

As a seven-year old just beginning to learn cricket I had just heard the name Don Bradman from my father, being referred as the best batsman ever. Naturally, when the show "Bodyline" started airing in India in 1985/1986, I was excited since I would get to see how prolific Bradman was. I loved the series then, but could never locate it later on reruns or recorded media. Luckily a couple of weeks back I came across an Australian website selling DVDs of the series.

Watching the series in a new light more than 20 years after I saw it for the first time was a great experience. Having acquired a good knowledge of both, the game's history and the rules provided me a fresh perspective. And the verdict? The series is brilliant!

I did believe it over-dramatised events to an extent. There were also minor historical inaccuracies and omissions:

1. Not having a mention of George Duckworth (the English wicketkeeper) being the person who observed the uncertainties in Bradman's stance while facing fast bowling on a wet wicket (attributing it to Larwood instead).

2. Not showing the Notts captain Arthur Carr providing inputs regarding the leg theory approach and rehearsing it with Larwood and Voce in English county cricket (rather showing Douglas Jardine doing all the planning himself).

3. Showing Douglas Jardine as an upright and politically correct person not given to using terms questioning his opponents' parentage (but he actually encouraged his teammates to refer to Bradman as "the little bastard").

4. Bert Oldfield was hit by Larwood on the head while Larwood was not bowling Bodyline, contrary to what the series shows. Moreover the hit was due to a deflection from Oldfield's bat. Oldfield in fact claimed "My own fault" later.

But I am nitpicking. The series is all about showing how and why one of the most vilified cricket strategies came into being. It focuses on Douglas Jardine's drive to get the Ashes back in England and shows that he would not stop at any point as long as he was within the rules.

Contrary to what a few other reviewers on this site have written, I found the representation of the events quite unbiased. Over-dramatisation is a part of the representation of any sporting event on-screen and there is no loss of flavour to "Bodyline" for that. If anything, it was charitable to Douglas Jardine. He is always shown as being in awe of Bradman's batting abilities and the main reason for his tactics comes off as an overwhelming desire to win the Ashes, rather than harbouring racist feelings and hatred towards Australia.

Other players are shown in honest light too - Larwood and Voce obeying their captain's orders to the letter, Pataudi quitting when things were going against the concepts of fair play, Woodfull refusing to employ similar tactics both out of choice and necessity (his team did not have bowlers of Larwood's ability), and so on.

All in all, this is a great watch. If you are a cricket lover then you should definitely see it. And if you are a fan of any kind of sports, then this series shows you to what extent it is possible to go to stop a champion.

It's been twenty years since I last saw this tour de force of war movies, and, having watched it again just last night, it hasn't aged one day. Sadly, I have. And when I was fourteen, in 1985, (when England had just regained the Ashes from the nice version of Allan Border and his chubby Australians) my love of the sport was far more pure and non-partisan. So it's through those youthful eyes, unsullied by nationalistic distortions, that I will rate this production as 'simply terrific', and for so many reasons: production standards, performances, faith to the sport, and editing are all of the highest calibre, all designed to grip and to entertain and never slipping into the badlands of the docu-drama. This is just great drama, dramatically portrayed, and edge-of-the-seat exciting in its frequent recreational sequences, and in its portrayal of the political and international tensions those sequences allegedly caused.

But what about now, twenty years on? Well, we've just won again, so I really don't care about the 'bias' or the occasional inaccuracies. In fact, upon watching it once more, I realised that perceptions are vital when it comes to representing your country in any sport, indeed in any situation: and the Australian perception of the ruthless Jardine and his foot soldiers at the time is, in fact, faithfully reflected. Of course, that gives the film a wonderfully juicy, ironic dimension in 2006: the all-conquering Australian superstars clearly learnt a lot from Jardine (took them long enough) about ruthlessness, while all we learnt from the Aussies of the same era was how to whinge. Although the worm seems to be turning - yet again...

To all cricket fanatics from opposite sides of the world, this is an absolute must-see, or 'must-see again' if you saw it when it first appeared all those years ago, as I did.