Fire in Babylon (2010)

Great Film overall

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Blistering performances.

Being a huge fan of the game, i watched the trailer some time back and have that in my watch list. I got hold of the copy last week and watched yesterday. I must say, it took me by surprise. I am not saying it is a very well made documentary from cricket point of view, but what i meant to say is, its nothing there for its target audience which are "Cricket Fans" as far as cricket is concern.Now the best part of the documentary is when it starts. The humiliating tour of WI to Aus, in 75. That is what put the things in motion and what followed was exactly what Aussies did to them in that particular tour. Right after that, the tour of India (I enjoyed that a lot) where India refused to play was an horrific but beautiful account from history at least from pace bowling point of view. Comes the later part and it really disappoints as it shifts the focus from cricket to something else. Some less important if you are not a WI and a cricket fan, The altering egos and the politics. This is where it really gets messy. Now the point here is not what happen at that time, but what it yields after 10/15 years. Now if we take a look at WI they are at the rock bottom and its really hard to believe that it is the same country which produced legends of the game.

An excellent snapshot of an era in which the West Indies turned cricket's traditional order on its head and gave it all a soundtrack too through reggae music. It is told almost entirely through the viewpoint of the team members with the occasional burst of pride from musicians and poets, mainly through song and notably Bunny Wailer provides some excellent insight into the pride the islands took in their united team.There was plenty said about the team by the (foreign to them) press and commentators as they raced to the top of test cricket but not so much credit so I think the film's solely West Indies angle is justified. The film also explores the legacy of prejudice that the West Indies team did much to expose. Corporal Jones always maintained that "they don't like it up them" and Holding, Garner, Roberts and Croft proved that it was true of us too. Croft's decision to tour Apartheid South Africa is given to the viewer to judge. Respect was earned and cricket changed with it. It may be a one sided view but you leave with no doubt that the helmet-less and pad-scant men that stood up to such bowling were brave souls too.Great music, audience maturity respected, wince-inducing footage, some laughs and Sir Vivian Richards. An hour and a half well spent for me.

Unlike cricket, it's a film of two halves. The first covers the parlous, parochial state of West Indian cricket early in the 1970s and its determination to better itself. The second half describes the impact, political involvement and legacy. It's a stirring film, made up of period footage narrated by the sportsmen in interview and overlaid with a reggae-heavy soundtrack (as well as performances from West Indian musician-balladeers recording the exploits and character of the protagonists).I liked the film very much, not least as I was absorbed by cricket in the 1980s myself. As a document it achieves a fair balance, not least in the latter stages which deal with differences in the team itself as some decide to play in South Africa in defiance of sanctions. In the second half I feel it loses the same focus with which the first blazes along, just like the titular fire. I'd have liked to hear more about the impact in Britain at the time of the Brixton riots (1981) and of the structure and capability of the West Indian cricket board. I also found the editing a little contrived, with recourse to footage of batsmen taking balls to the body used increasingly arbitrarily to spike the drama.There are irresistible moments though - when Michael Holding is shown taking his run-up, for example, with the voice-over identifying the indelibly African character of motion as the next funk track kicks in. It's great fun and really sells the greats of that marvellous period. 5/10

I'm no longer a cricket fan but my childhood memories of cricket in the 70's and 80's was that we were excited to have such great competitors come to play in Australia. They were great athletes and thrilling to watch.This film tells the other side of the story - the systemic racial hatred aimed at them in the 1970's and 80's from UK, Australia and South Africa. Stevan Riley is English so he makes it look like it was mostly Australian and South African racism - but even India refused to play them at one stage.They managed to rise above it and their achievements make them statesmen for the game. Their recollections are for the team achievements not the individual performances (and there is plenty to admire on both levels). Their impact went beyond sport. Viv Richards and his Four Men of the Apocalypse are my new heroes. They don't seem to make them like that anymore.On a lightweight note, these men are aging wonderfully. I bet Lillee, Thomo etc don't look anywhere near as good these days.