2.5/5
Stars
The film revolves around the resurgence of the West Indies cricket team during a period when Blacks were not given equal rights in the society. It shows how the success of the sporting team gave hope to countless other West Indians that they can be world beaters too. The initial bits focus on the erstwhile migration of the present day West Indians from Africa during the colonial period. It talks about how the blacks were relegated to the position of being slaves in a country ruled by the Whites. Even after the Caribbean islands regained independence, the position of any inhabitant in the society was heavily dependent on the colour of his/her skin. Even cricket was considered to be a sport dominated by the Whites. The captain of the West Indies cricket team was a white and so were most of the officials of the cricket board. At the same time, the neighbouring United States of America was undergoing a process of change under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., and the sentiment passed on to the Caribbean islands as well. The blacks, who were facing oppression of unimaginable magnitudes, needed a spurt of inspiration from somewhere.
One can seldom get it wrong when you have
the likes of Vivian Richards, Michael Holding, Gordon Greenidge, Andy Roberts,
Joel Garner and Jeffery Dujon among other West Indian greats to give you a
first-hand account of how a bunch of boys got together to form one of the greatest
cricket teams of all-time.
The film 'Fire in Babylon' had all the
prerequisites for a truly memorable documentary. However, somewhere in the
middle, the plot is lost and so is the purpose.
The film revolves around the resurgence of the West Indies cricket team during a period when Blacks were not given equal rights in the society. It shows how the success of the sporting team gave hope to countless other West Indians that they can be world beaters too. The initial bits focus on the erstwhile migration of the present day West Indians from Africa during the colonial period. It talks about how the blacks were relegated to the position of being slaves in a country ruled by the Whites. Even after the Caribbean islands regained independence, the position of any inhabitant in the society was heavily dependent on the colour of his/her skin. Even cricket was considered to be a sport dominated by the Whites. The captain of the West Indies cricket team was a white and so were most of the officials of the cricket board. At the same time, the neighbouring United States of America was undergoing a process of change under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., and the sentiment passed on to the Caribbean islands as well. The blacks, who were facing oppression of unimaginable magnitudes, needed a spurt of inspiration from somewhere.
Cricket, a sport which was interred within
the soul of the Caribbean, united all the islands which were so different in
all the other aspects, be it language, clothing or culture. The West Indian
team of the 60s, although embellished with all-time greats such as Gary Sobers,
Everton Weekes and Learie Constantine, lacked the winning spirit. The players
used to consider cricket a fun activity and never took winning seriously.
However, during the early 70s, a young team led by Clive Lloyd realized the
perils of not being tough enough when they received a drubbing at the hands of
the Australian team. The two bowling machines, namely Dennis Lillee and Jeff
Thomson, wreaked havoc over the visiting West Indian side. They abused, injured
and annihilated the visiting side and pushed them to a corner. Clive Lloyd,
being an astute thinker and a true leader, did not get bogged down by the
defeat. He understood the significance of genuine fast bowling and so, got greats
such as Holding, Roberts and Croft to form a world-class pace attack. From then
on, the West Indies were unstoppable. They started with the Indian series and
from then on went on to win one tournament after another. Issues that have been
interspersed within the sporting exploits have been about how the triumphs of
the cricket team had a positive impact upon people back home and other
Caribbean migrants who were living in other countries. The cricket team’s
domination was instrumental in instilling a feeling of pride in the hearts of
the West Indian people.
There are various instances brought to
light in this documentary – apartheid in South Africa, meagre payment to the
players, World Series organized by Kerry Packer etc. Each of them is conveyed
through the journey of this great West Indian side. Stars such as Vivian
Richards, Michael Holding, Gordon Greenidge, Colin Croft and Andy Roberts steal
the show with their impeccable articulating skills. They truly exhibit the
emotions that the members of the great side must have been through during this
wonderful phase of 15 years when the West Indian side did not lose a single series.
There are few songs thrown in the documentary as well. Initially, the reggae
add a lot of flavour to the on-screen proceedings but it got tedious as the
lyrical tributes keep getting longer.
There has been wonderful use of archives in
the documentary. It must have been quite a tough ask to assemble all the
footage for this film, many of which dates back to colonial times. The bowling
actions of the pace bowlers, shown in slow motion, look beautiful on the big
screen. However, this particular visual of a fast bowler running in swiftly
towards the bowling mark and delivering a thunderbolt is repeated often in the
film. This, in my opinion, was unnecessary.
Also, there is one particular sequence in
the film which talks about how the Indian team was so anguished by the
injury-inflicting bouncers of the West Indian pacers that they refused to play
and declared the innings prematurely. This instance was accompanied with
visuals from ‘India v/s Australia’ series of 1981 during the Melbourne test
match when the Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar walked off the field after being
abused by Dennis Lillee. The advertising boards (which had ‘Benson and Hedges’
written on them) clearly suggest that series in question was in Australia and
it has been inaccurately shown as a visual in an India-West Indies series. A
documentary has to be accurate. If you don’t have the visuals, do not carry the
story. It was indeed misleading to see a fuming Gavaskar shown to be protesting
against West Indies when that was clearly not the case. This minor but
significant mistake took a lot of credibility off the film.
Anyway, the director Stevan Riley should be
lauded for incorporating such a brilliant concept. The execution left a lot to
be desired though. The film seems to be driving home the same point time and
again throughout the duration. The message of the ‘blacks being given equal
rights’ in the society is driven innumerable times. While it was important to
bring home the point of racism, it should have been either at the end or too
far in between. In the end, the film neither ended up being a good cricket
documentary nor a great cultural one. Barring the Gavaskar goof-up, most of the
footage is quite accurate. The archives bring about most guffaws and cheering
from the audiences. The film gives you a good idea about the history of the
West Indies cricket team along with interesting information about the country
itself. However, the emotion got lost somewhere in the middle. So much so, that
even Bob Marley, whose footage features towards the closing stages of the film,
fails to enliven the interest of the viewer.
The documentary does not impress you either as a cricket lover or a film buff. There’s too much inconsistency in the screenplay. You may be enlightened by this film, but you won’t be moved. There’s a lot of nostalgia in there, with all the West Indian cricketers coming together but you will have to bear a lot of other inconsequential stuff, if you watch this film strictly for the cricket. To use a cricketing jargon, ‘Fire In Babylon’ is a case of ‘touch and go!’ (First Posted in MSN)
The documentary does not impress you either as a cricket lover or a film buff. There’s too much inconsistency in the screenplay. You may be enlightened by this film, but you won’t be moved. There’s a lot of nostalgia in there, with all the West Indian cricketers coming together but you will have to bear a lot of other inconsequential stuff, if you watch this film strictly for the cricket. To use a cricketing jargon, ‘Fire In Babylon’ is a case of ‘touch and go!’ (First Posted in MSN)
Shivom
Oza
Well written... especially description of history...
ReplyDeleteBut it looks too long you describing the movie rather than commenting it..
anyways good work
yeah
ReplyDeleteBut it looks too long you describing the movie rather than commenting it..
nice job wakkidudo