Calypso magic on celluloid
Fire in Babylon, which premiers in the London film festival, is a sports documentary that tells the story of the all-conquering West Indies cricket team of the 1970s and early 1980s
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
Fire in Babylon, which premiers in the London film festival, is a sports documentary that tells the story of the all-conquering West Indies cricket team of the 1970s and early 1980s. Writing in the Independent, Geoffrey Macnab describes the film as tribute to one of the best teams in recent memory.
There is comedy, pathos and violence in the imagery of English batsmen like Greig and the stubborn, bald-headed, 45-year-old Yorkshireman Brian Close facing up to the fast-bowling attack led by Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Andy Roberts. It is cinematic too. Certain archive scenes here play like sequences from a Mack Sennett comedy. All seems calm during the long, elegant run-up of Holding and then, a moment after the ball is released, an Englishman is down – poleaxed by one of Holding's bouncers
Charles Thomson in SAWF News website, describes the film as a masterful exercise in pathos, setting the triumph of the West Indian players against the depressing social context in which they flourished.
While the film deals with some heavy subject matter, you never feel that you're being lectured to. The players exude warmth and ultimately, Fire In Babylon is an uplifting documentary. You'll walk out of the cinema feeling energized, educated and enlightened
Akhila Ranganna is assistant editor (Audio) at ESPNcricinfo