17 June 2011 Volume: 21 Issue: 11 Australia's ... - Eureka Street

Volume 21 Issue: 1117 June 2011quite deliberate. ‘They’ve had their say,’ says Loach. ‘I wasn’t going to give them anotheropportunity.’To be fair, the Brothers as an institution have made efforts to atone for their wrongdoings ofthat era. That Oranges and Sunshine seems to condemn them universally, when it’s likely thatthe innocent have been tarred along with the guilty, is due less to malice than to the fact thatLoach’s sympathies sit sqaurely and wholly with the child victims.He notes that there is an implicit power shift in the scene where Humphreys and one of theformer migrants (portrayed by David Wenham, who, along with Hugo Weaving, features asone of Humphreys’ most pertinent clients) confront the silent Brothers. ‘The power lies inwhat’s unsaid.’Loach is as strongly critical of the British government as he is of the Australian institutions.But Oranges and Sunshine also resonates, unintentionally, with another, particularly Australianstory.When Margaret pleads with government officials for accountability and transparency, theyrespond that the scheme was carried out in ‘a different time’ and with ‘the best of intentions’.This echoes the apologetics proffered by defenders of the forced separation of Aboriginalchildren from their parents.It’s enough to make you wonder what defense the perpetrators of the current inhumanetreatment of asylum seekers will offer in decades to come. ‘It’s amazing how you can deletethe scandal, insert another one, and the same scene would probably work,’ quips Loach.©2011 EurekaStreet.com.au 24