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Wondrous Oblivion (2003)
23. Sep 2003 at 12:02
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According to the london evening standard - the cannes sensation that was set to be the thinking man's britflick this autumn has been shelved until next march.

"it's simply to do with the number of movies that are being released in the autumn for the oscars push.

"and spring is nearer to the cricket season too."

but why shouldn't wonderous oblivion be an oscar contender itself?!
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Buoyed by the success of last year's Academy Award nominated Lagaan, moviemakers are working on another film centered around cricket.

The coming 'Wondrous Oblivion' is the story of a cricket-loving white Jewish boy who is befriended by an equally sports-mad black Jamaican neighbour, who sets up a cricket net in the back garden. The movie uses cricket as backdrop to deal with racial issues and the shift from the narrow-mindedness of the 1950s to the freedom of the 1960s.

Interestingly, 'Wondrous Oblivion' comes on the heels of this year's Bend it Like Beckham, another race/sports-themed film that is enjoying phenomenal box-office success.

It looks like the West Indies will have a major presence in 'Wondrous Oblivion'. Sir Garry Sobers and Sir Frank Worrell will be portrayed in the film by actors and former hard-hitting opener Phil Simmons is working as an adviser to coach his cast. Must see.


posted by Ryan Naraine on 09.04.03 at 09:57 AM


Comments:

Cricket loving white Jewish boy....I guess the Jamaican yout might have influenced him.

Anyhow, if it is a movie to try to make positive strides where racial prejudice is concerned, then it gets my 100% Jamaican "Big Up!"

posted by: Dr. D. on 09.04.03 at 03:24 PM [permalink]

----------------------------------------------------------
Is this going to be the cricket version of Cool Runnings?

Incidentally, am I the only one who thought Lagaan wasn't all that? Bend It Like Beckham was good fun, though.

posted by: Jonathan on 09.04.03 at 03:48 PM [permalink]



this is the first time i hearing about this movie! A movie about cricket and I didnt see it??????

posted by: Michelle on 09.04.03 at 08:10 PM [permalink]

======================
from the daily telegraph.

A cricketing Billy Elliot aims to hit British film audiences for six
By Tim de Lisle
(Filed: 31/08/2003)


The British film industry has created unlikely hits out of a boy from a mining village with dreams of being a ballet dancer and a girl from the Indian community in London who longs to become a professional footballer.

Now, following the success of Billy Elliot and Bend It Like Beckham, a British producer is about to try it with cricket.

A new £4 million production, Wondrous Oblivion, which features more white flannels than any big film since The Final Test 50 years ago, will open in Britain this autumn with high expectations of success after receiving critical acclaim at a prestigious international film festival.

The film, which is set in the 1960s, revolves around an 11-year-old Jewish boy, growing up in a drab London suburb, who loves cricket but is no good at the game.

He has to settle for operating the scoreboard at his private school and tending his formidable collection of cigarette cards until a Jamaican immigrant, played by the Hollywood actor Delroy Lindo, moves in next door and sets up a cricket net in the back garden.

Two of the game's all-time greats, the West Indians Sir Garry Sobers and Sir Frank Worrell, are portrayed in the film by actors, and another former West Indies player, Phil Simmons, acted as the technical adviser, coaching the cast.

There is even a walk-on part for the most famous of all the Victorian cricketers, W G Grace, who springs to life from a cigarette card.

For cricket buffs of a certain age, the film offers a nostalgic return to the days of long white shorts, batting gloves with green spikes and boots that had to be painted with whitener.

Jonny Persey, the producer, insists, however, that it is not exactly a cricket film, more a feel-good coming-of-age story which uses the game as a backdrop to deal with racial issues and the shift from the narrow-mindedness of the 1950s to the freedom of the 1960s.

"Clearly it has an attraction to the cricket lover, but not a single ball is bowled on the screen that doesn't tell you about the characters' journeys. This is only a cricket movie to the extent that Billy Elliot was a ballet movie," he said.

Paul Morrison, the film's writer-director, agreed, saying: "The film is not about cricket, but it's a good metaphor."

Mr Morrison, a psychotherapist and former television director whose first film, the Welsh drama Solomon and Gaenor, was nominated for an Oscar, added that he was not even a cricket fan himself, although he had a fondness for the "accoutrements" of the game - the bats, gloves and pads.

The film's star is Sam Smith, 13, a seasoned child actor who has appeared as Oliver Twist in a BBC production. He had barely played the game and had never been to a match, but after undergoing a crash course from Phil Simmons, he announced: "It's more like rocket science than a sport."

Wondrous Oblivion has already gone down well with audiences ahead of its British opening on November 7, winning the main prize at the recent Giffoni Film Festival in Italy.

Giffoni uses a jury of teenagers, from Italy and elsewhere, who evidently were not turned off by the unfamiliar thwack of leather on willow.

The new film marks the resumption of a long but intermittent tradition. It is now 65 years since Hitchcock made The Lady Vanishes and Basil Radford bellowed into a telephone: "I'm inquiring about the Test match in Manchester. Cricket, sir, cricket! What? You can't be in England and not know the Test score!"

The Final Test followed in 1953, a famous year for cricket as England regained the Ashes under Len Hutton, who appeared in the film as himself alongside Jack Warner, better known as Dixon of Dock Green.

Since then, several films have included the occasional cricket scene, among them The Go-Between, The Crying Game and The Shout, a 1978 thriller in which Jim Broadbent, now a successful character actor, made a fleeting appearance identified only as "fielder who falls in cowpat".

Last year, an Oscar nomination went to Lagaan, a Bollywood film about a cricket match between Indian villagers and officers of the Raj, while a battle scene in the Tolkien film The Two Towers used crowd noises supplied by spectators at a one-day international between England and New Zealand.

No Western producer in living memory has, however, taken the risk of building a whole film around the game.

With football's popularity continuing to rise, becoming a year-round sport, cricket has struggled to hold onto its audience and the England and Wales Cricket Board has set up a number of initiatives to attract younger fans, ranging from roll-up plastic pitches for school playgrounds to a shortened form of the county game, the Twenty20 Cup.

The board became aware of Wondrous Oblivion when the film-makers sought permission to use an England cap and now hopes that the film will generate fresh interest in the game.

"We were delighted to give our consent," said a spokesman. "It would be wonderful if they could produce a film with the popular appeal of Bend It Like Beckham. Any spin-off publicity for the game will be hugely appreciated."


Tim de Lisle is the editor of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2003.
1 August 2003[Sport]: Twenty20 expanded 

sam was nominated (but didn;t win) for best young actor aged 10 or under in oliver twist - 22nd young artist award.

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« Last Edit: 27. Aug 2008 at 03:49 by Zabladowski »  
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Re: wonderous oblivion.
Reply #1 - 24. Sep 2003 at 12:16
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aaaaa....

I'll look forward to reading your post tomorrow,  hehe, I'm braindead right now. The weather has turned hot and sticky and I'm still trying to shake the after effects of the flu.. and my eyeballs are falling outta their sockets...

..until then  Smiley



  
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Re: wonderous oblivion.
Reply #2 - 24. Sep 2003 at 21:59
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Hehe. I thought about you all the time I was reading this post, Cal. I know you like your cricket!   Grin

I liked Sam Smith in that version of Oliver Twist. Actually, it was a little different take on that story, and he was the best part of it for me. Smiley

Love,
Sir J
  
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Re: wonderous oblivion.
Reply #3 - 25. Sep 2003 at 09:03
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Thanks aaaa,

That was a very interesting preview.  I've seen Sam Smith in Oliver Twist and I thought he was perfect for the role.  In fact he's my favourite Oliver. even ahead of Mark Lester.

I love cricket too, and the quote about cricket being like rocket science made me laugh. I suppose it seems like that to people who are only new to the game as it is indeed rather technical at times.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this film.
  
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Re: wonderous oblivion.
Reply #4 - 09. Feb 2004 at 22:52
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This film needs a picture for its profile  Smiley

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