Paul Morrison’s first film, 1999’s Solomon and
Gaenor, was a tragedy about an Orthodox Jew’s illicit affair
with a miner’s daughter in the impoverished Welsh valleys of
the 1910s. His second is another period piece but it is a much
more palatable one. Set in 1960, it tells the story of one long
summer in the life of 11-year-old David Wiseman (Sam Smith), a
Jewish second-generation immigrant whose passion for cricket far
outweighs his ability. David’s German-born parents are viewed with suspicion,
but with the arrival of the Jamaican Samuels family next door
they are displaced as the neighbourhood scapegoats – it may
be only 15 years since the end of the war but it is only two
since the Notting Hill Race Riots. Friends encourage David to
ignore his new neighbours, but after Dennis Samuels, (Delroy
Lindo) father of the new family, erects a cricket net, the
usually shy David cannot resist the lure of the game. The story is predictable. David flourishes and is picked for
the cricket team; becomes more confident and more popular until
he thoughtlessly betrays his mentor. Ultimately though, he of
course realises that friendship is more important than athletic
prowess, missing an important fixture to prove his loyalty.
Wondrous Oblivion is saved from cliché however by some wonderful
performances and the quiet privileging of individual
characterisation over emotional histrionics. There are a couple of major movies where cricket games take
place (Joseph Losey’s Accident) and there has been one film
about first-class cricket (Anthony Asquith’s The Final
Test), but there has never been a first-class film about such a
potentially slow sport. Wondrous Oblivion doesn’t break the
cinema’s duck in this area, for while cricket provides the
film’s dominant motif, it is a metaphor for self-respect,
friendship, teamwork and living in amicable rivalry. In its
portrayal of human relationships, it is in a league of its own.ARCHIVE: 2nd week TT 2004
Wondrous Oblivion
