Wondrous Oblivion

This is a gem of a film which was the opener for the Maine Jewish Film Festival. But it is not about just one of these topics. It is a wondrous story which could take place anywhere in the world. The film succeeds because it uses tired themes ("there goes the neighborhood") and puts a fresh slant on them with terrific acting and cinematography. You do not have to know anything about any of the subjects, Jamaica, Judiasm or cricket, but you will learn something about humanity when seeing this film. Sure, it is not perfect but it is rare to see a bigger budget film handle these themes so well. This film is definitely worth seeking out.

"Wondrous Oblivion" is a film that has as its motive one of the most boring sports out there (at least for those who don't play it) – cricket. Thankfully, Paul Morrison's second feature, after the award winning "Solomon and Gaenor" (1999), is not about cricket at all.

We are given a coming of age story of a Jewish boy, David (Sam Smith), born in the family of two Holocaust survivors in the 1950s England: Victor (Stanley Townsend), a Polish émigré, and a very young Ruth (Emily Woof), coming from Germany. The boy has an empowering passion for cricket, obvious from his massive card collection of cricket celebrities. However, he is totally rubbish at it. His destiny is to change when a Jamaican émigré family comes next door, and sets up an improvised cricket court. Dennis Samuels (Delroy Lindo) teaches the boy the craftsmanship of the sport, and becomes a close friend of David.

All seems a very familiar bad-sportsman-turns-great story, but Morrison's script is ingenious enough not to fall in the stereotypical Hollywood film-making. The boy doesn't end up the great sportsman that we all wish him to be, but learns something greater, something more important in the process. And this is the 'wondrous oblivion' the author intended to deliver… The 1960s as a whole becomes a decade of surprising changes and animosity, and yet all characters seem to remain static in their conception of their beliefs.

This is a good film, and it is worth seeing for the original cinematography and a moving performance from Emily Woof ("Passion", "The Full Monty"), which steals the whole film. Watch out for the dance scene with Lindo, which is dominated both by passion, and religious taboos, and it is surprisingly sexy. The only three problems in the movie are the simplicity with each the Holocaust theme is being treated, the poor knowledge of Jewish faith, as well as the stereotypical two-dimensionality of the entire supporting cast. But this applies only for a picky audience.

"Wondrous Oblivion" is one of those films that one cannot dislike, or at least loathe. Pacing, beautiful, and quite funny really.

Some good people in it.

There is hope out there, somewhere.....

I remember Dennis from Cider House Rules, but I don't think I've seen him elsewhere? Cricket doesn't have the movies made about it, like Baseball, or American Football (or even soccer). There were some feature length films made back in the 1950's, I think, but nothing since..... I wonder why that is? Maybe something to do with the English themselves and how they see Sport? Maybe.......... but Australians, don't see Sport in a similar way at all........... they're fiercely competitive, about ANY sport, and they don't make Sporting films either..... Any ideas out there?

This is one of the best films about the immigrant experience in the UK that I've seen in a while.

It starts off appearing to be about a very English-looking German Jewish boy who's family are ultra-assimilationist and who wants nothing more than to succeed at the most English of sports, Cricket.

As it unfolds it takes in the experiences of some of the first West Indians to come to England, and are much more talented at cricket but doomed to suffer the depradations of little Englanders by virtue of their high melanin levels.

The complex racial issues that ensue are handled in a way that's sensitive and believable, as long as you can believe that the young jewish boy really is jewish, and not the scion of some old anglo-Norman family. The period detail is pretty spot on as well, though the use of colourised pathe footage slightly jars with the overall aesthetic of the film.

Mercifully, you don't have to be able to understand cricket to get this film, just appreciate how difficult it can be to live in a strange country

This film is simply quite magical.

Its subject matter is really racial hatred in Britain in the early 1960s, but it is done against the background of a Jewish boy being taught to play cricket by an Afro-Caribbean who has moved in next doors.

The charming script is matched by outstanding performances throughout, with Delroy Lindo being topped only be the young, and excellent Sam Smith.

Perhaps most rewarding of all is that there are no cop-outs in this film- the boy doesn't get the girl and win the game. He has to make a choice, which is beautifully handled.