This doco about the West Indies’ late 70s ascension from happy-go-lucky ‘calypso cricketers’ to world beaters is such riotous fun you won’t need to know your googlies from your bouncers to get a big kick out of it.
Joyous and uplifting... a celebration of a sporting triumph and all its implications for black politics and culture.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2011
Fire in Babylon 2010
Stevan Riley’s exuberant documentary is much more than just a cricket film... New interviews with players such as inspirational captain Clive Lloyd, fast bowler Michael Holding and the ice cool Viv Richards bring vintage test match footage to vibrant life. Unfolding as a classic underdog tale, Riley’s film places the narrative firmly within the civil rights movement and nascent reggae-powered Caribbean nationalism. Steeled by colonial oppression, Lloyd instilled an uncompromising attitude in his charges, subverting the old elite and leading the Windies to strike back in historic victories over England and Australia by the end of the decade. Though they did lose an acrimonious series in New Zealand in 1980 (not mentioned in this film, ahem), their 15- year unbeaten run remains unsurpassed. — MM