A wonderful cricket centered coming of age tale that addresses racial tensions in 1960s London. Young David Wiseman learns some valuable life lessons when the black neighbors move and the father teaches him cricket.
David Wiseman (Sam Smith) is a young Jewish boy living in South London in the 1960s. He’s positively obsessed with cricket and longs to play on his private school’s team. However, he’s just allowed to keep score since he’s horrible at the game. The Wiseman’s are the people that the neighbors look at with suspicion since they’re Jewish. The neighbor’s attentions are focused elsewhere when the new neighbors move in next door to the Wiseman’s and they turn out to be a black family.
David wants to be a cricketeer but isn't very good at it
Everyone, even the Wiseman’s, are looking out behind closed curtains to see what exactly the new additions are up to. They plow up the rose garden in the yard and put up a large net enclosure. It turns out that they’ve put up the enclosure so that when they practice cricket that the ball won’t crash the neighbor’s windows. David is fascinated and wants to join in but his parents Victor (Stanley Townsend) and Ruth (Emily Woof) are still a little suspicious of the new neighbors.
Mr. Samuels (Delroy Lindo) is out teaching his daughter Judy (Leonie Elliott) cricket and David walks out in his whites and wants to join in. Soon a friendship is born and the two families grow closer, but can the combination of the two withstand the racial tensions that are brewing in the neighborhood.
Wondrous Oblivion is a bit of a strange title that refers to the fact that David is a bit oblivious in the first of the film when playing outfield in the cricket match and the coach refers to him as such. The film is a time capsule for 1960s South London and the racial tensions that come into the neighborhood when the Samuels family move in. The film relies on excellent performances from both Sam Smith and the ever reliable Delroy Lindo.
Not only is there tension of a racial nature in the neighborhood, but a tension between David’s parents develops and one of them attempts to seek solace in the arms of another. David not only learns valuable cricket skills from his new neighbors but how to accept those that are different from him.
The new neighbors build a cricket net to David's delight
It’s a coming of age story that reminded me of Stand By Me (or the like) but with a definite Londoner feel to it. You don’t have to be proficient in the game of cricket to enjoy the story or the delightful performances.
Wondrous Oblivion is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by director Paul Morrison. The 9 minute “Wondrous Oblivion: Behind the Scenes” which features interviews with Morrison, producer Jonny Persey, Stanley Townsend, Emily Woof, Delroy Lindo, Leonie Elliott, and Sam Smith. There’s also the film’s theatrical trailer as well as previews for other Palm Pictures DVDs.
Wondrous Oblivion is a fine film that combines race relations and cricket, although cricket takes a backseat to those themes. The film also has wonderful performances all around and is well worth the rental.
The Samuels family causes tension in the neighborhood
Wondrous Oblivion is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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