Wondrous Oblivion

source: Wondrous Oblivion

Evidently, this movie has not yet found a US distributor. I was lucky enough to see it as part of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. I have to say that I enjoyed it more than any other movie I have seen in recent memory. It totally captivated me. The story, characters, setting, values, personal relationships, acting, sports aspect - all were interesting, well done, unique and such a good cohesive film. This was a fresh approach that didn't draw me into the clichés, dead time and old themes of so many movies. If I could, I would go see this again soon. I only hope it reaches US markets so I can send my friends. Marsha

What if you're a studio executive and I come to you to pitch my idea for a film? I tell you it's about adultery, racism and anti-Semitism. Oh, and, yes, I almost forgot: it's mainly a feel good, family friendly movie. You'd think I'm nuts, right? Well, could be, but in a nutshell that's what we have here in "Wondrous Oblivion," an audacious, charming little film in which heart trumps hate as people sort out a crisis in a working class London neighborhood. Set in the 1960s, the story concerns two immigrant families - one Jewish, the other Afro-Jamaican – interlopers in an otherwise traditional white Anglo neighborhood. The catalyst for action is eleven year old David Wiseman (Sam Smith), whose desire to excel in cricket is not matched by his bumbling play on the field. When the blacks move in, two doors down from the Wisemans, the neighborhood gossips crank up their whispered invective, but the newest family on the block presents a wondrous opportunity for David. The reason: as soon as the kitchenware is unboxed, Dennis (Delroy Lindo, one of my favorite actors) sets about erecting a tall net enclosing his entire rear yard so he can coach his daughter Judy (Leonie Elliott), David's age mate, to improve her cricket skills. Before long David makes friends with both and is included in the practices. His skills blossom, and soon he morphs from goat to hero on his boys' school team. Meanwhile, on David's home street, matters turn progressively nasty. Hate notes turn up in Dennis's mailbox, and, because the Wisemans have befriended the West Indians, for the first time after years of living there, they also begin to receive anti-Semitic hate notes. Complicating matters further, David's mother Ruth (Emily Woof), love starved at home, where her husband Victor (Stanley Townsend) is forever preoccupied with business issues, gets the hots for Dennis and pursues him. Can all of this end in anything other than pathos? By golly, the answer here is yes, though it requires of the viewer more than the usual degree of suspension of disbelief. Check out this gem of a film. You wonder why it has taken three years to find domestic theatrical distribution. But then the answer comes: the film no doubt lacks broad U.S. commercial appeal (its exclusive run here was at a neighborhood art house). The acting is terrific all around. Sam Smith, around whom the narrative stands or falls, is a quirky and entirely endearing youngster, and his turn succeeds completely. (In English & Hebrew) My grades: 8.5/10 (A-) (Seen on 12/18/06)

While this could never be considered a true masterpiece, as such, there's plenty going for it. Richly textured, this film goes beyond the realms of superficiality, reaching for a wider base in its coverage of the issues at hand. The relations between the people in the neighbourhood are at once entertaining, riveting and tense - causing the odd chuckle and plenty of lurching in the stomach. The racial tensions and the unnerving line that is drawn between the events and other racial notables in history such as apartheid and the Nazi regime makes this a superb watch - there is one particularly chilling scene (that I will not divulge) that sends a massive shiver down the spine of the viewer. The characterisation is what really makes this film in terms of the actual watching of it, and no character is left without something to analyse on - making it an excellent English film text. Overall, a superb example of cinematic beauty.

Eleven-year-old David is so passionate about cricket, he barely notices he doesn't know how to play. But when his cricket-mad new neighbors teach him the game, David begins to emerge from his 'wondrous oblivion'. Trouble is, David's Jewish, his neighbors are Jamaican and this is 1960 in pre-multicultural London. Wondrous Oblivion is a delightful film with an important message. Sam Smith engages as David, and there is a wonderful rapport between him and his neighbors: daughter Judy (newcomer Leonie Elliot) and father Dennis, played by Delroy Lindo from Malcolm X, and Gone in Sixty Seconds. Coincidentally, Jamaican-born Lindo actually grew up in Lewisham, where the film is set, at around the same time. And it's not just David that matures as a result of meeting these happy-go-lucky Caribbeans : his mother Ruth (Emily Woof – The Full Monty, Velvet Goldmine) and father Victor (Stanley Townsend) gradually become less afraid of life. Wondrous Oblivion was written and directed by Paul Morrison, who garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film for his first feature Solomon and Gaenor. Recommended, even if you don't play cricket. ***½/***** stars.

Wondrous Oblivion, United Kingdom-Germany, 2003, d. Paul Morrison, 106 m. "Heartwarming" is perhaps overused in describing films, but it's certainly apt in this case. In 1960's England an unathletic young boy and his family bond with a Jamaican family which has moved into the neighborhood and built a cricket court in their backyard. Many of the neighbors are horrified at this infiltration of their turf by a Black family, but young David seizes the opportunity to learn cricket skills from the skilled Dennis. As the bond between the two families grows, so do the problems. The ending may surprise you. Think of "Wondrous Oblivion" as this year's "Bend It Like Beckham." Though the film is sometimes strident in expressing its anti-racism theme, still the best word to describe it is, yep, heartwarming.—Nick Salerno.

WONDROUS OBLIVION may seem a puzzling title for this film about racism, coming of age, and understanding and acceptance, but if it is meant to tag the feelings with which the viewer is left after the film, the phrase describes it well. Some critics have labeled this a cross between BILLY ELLIOTT and FAR FROM HEAVEN and while that comparison may be a bit too heavy, the films share many things in common. Writer/director Paul Morrison has stirred the pot of nostalgia with all the right ingredients the result is a film that should bring a very large audience to its feet. The time is the 1960s in London in a neighborhood shared by Jews and other faiths. One family in particular, the Wisemans, live comfortably as German immigrants whose elder family members died in Nazi Germany. David Wiseman (Sam Smith) is eleven years old, and preoccupied with cricket, a sport for which he collects souvenir cards and idolizes players yet who has no skills at playing the game, but stays with his passion with the school team as a score keeper. His father Victor (Stanley Townsend) is all business, and his mother Ruth (Emily Woof) is a kind woman who seems to need more attention than her husband offers. Into the house next door moves a family from Jamaica - Dennis (Delroy Lindo), his wife and two daughters are happy people and play Jamaican music while they construct an odd entity in the tiny back yard, a construction that ends up being a cricket court as Dennis and his daughter are devoted cricket players. In no time the shy David introduces himself and shortly becomes invited to join in learning how to play cricket with the warmly loving Dennis and family. David learns the game well enough to become part of the school playing team and with his increased popularity he is honored with a birthday party, a party to which his new friend form cricket lessons next door is not invited. Hurt, she refuses to play with David any more and that fact unveils a series of events that have been in existence progressively since the black family moved into the white neighborhood. David's mother is warmly noticed by Dennis and the two come very close to a love relationship. Finally a tragedy occurs that brings out all of the needs and the prejudices, the feelings and the commitments that serve to change the way each of the families in the now mixed neighborhood view each other. The tragedy becomes a blessing in disguise. The flavor of the 1960s, the importance of familial Judaism, the joy of the Jamaican view of life and the bigotry that can decimate good people are all captured with great finesse by Morrison. The large cast is excellent with Sam Smith and Delroy Lindo giving particularly fine performances. This is a film that will warm the heart, teach us more about things we little understand, and leave us with the hope that Morrison will make more films of this high caliber. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

I missed this film on its release.Not surprising given the nature of the theme and its awful title.This film disappeared from view almost immediately but resurfaced on Channel 4 over Christmas. The film has its heart in the right place and it is a charming story but it has nothing to do with the reality of the period,assuming this to be around the late 50s or early 60s.What i find to be so disappointing about this film is how little the Producers seem to have researched orthodox Judaism.The family are shown praying in an orthodox synagogue,yet the wife is wearing fairly bright colours and is not wearing a wig.The likelihood of a woman from an Orthodox family committing adultery was unthinkable.Also it would be unthinkable to allow a child to go out to any sport or entertainment on a Saturday.In short it is just totally implausible.

If you want to serve jerk pork with schmaltz, rent this movie for dinner viewing. Between Emily Woof's commendable, but unbelievable, attempt at a Yiddish accent and Eve Stewart's nostalgic production design, I started groaning early. This potentially interesting story about prejudice becomes a parody of real life early on. The same old messages about how dysfunctional behavior on the part of new arrivals in an established culture is really charming and enriching. Political correctness gone idiotic. The boys are all cutesy. The girls are all darling. The immigrants are all determined to be jolly and, of course, are always wiser than the people around them. This movie feels like a propaganda film or a commercial from start to finish. The plot is boring. The condescension infuriating. The thematic simplicity annoying.

I've not a lot to add to what's already been said (it's nice how movies like this attract intelligent and insightful comments). I didn't think it owed a lot to `Billy Elliot' but there certainly parallels with `Bend it Like Beckham' - sport as a way to acceptance in a new society. The wrinkle here is that young David Wiseman has desire, but no apparent talent. The suspension of our disbelief is severely strained when his new West Indian neighbour Dennis coaches him to competence in his tiny back yard. As coach Ian Holm put it to aspiring Olympian Ben Cross in `Chariots of Fire' `an athlete does not find a coach, the coach finds the athlete'. Well, I suppose Dennis must have seen something in David. And David certainly has dreams of success via his talking cricket card collection. Otherwise this is a perfectly delightful movie about growing up and fitting in. Even David's mother's flirtation with Dennis does not end in disaster. The reactionaries fail to drive away the newcomers and it doesn't even rain at the final cricket match (this can't be England!). Gary Sobers and Frank Worrall (played by actors) turn up. Pretty fanciful but utterly charming.