FILM REVIEW: (HUMAN RIGHTS BEHIND) OLIVER TWIST

“Please Sir, I want some more.”

Charles Dickens’ work such as Oliver Twist tells vivid story of exploitation, depravity, brutality and poverty.

Dickens’ novel on the 1838, Oliver Twist was adopted by the Director Roman Polanski together with the Screenwriter Ronald Harwood for a 2005 drama film.

The film started with an orphan, Oliver Twist who is sent to a workhouse, where the children are barely fed and mistreated. Oliver remains in the workhouse for six months, until the desperately hungry boys decided to draw lots; the loser must ask for another portion of food. The task falls to Oliver, where he made his famous request: "Please, sir, I want some more."

Because of this he was soon kicked out of the orphanage and thrown into a terrible home where he was abused mercilessly. The bad treatment Oliver receives, forces him to escape to London. Here, he is soon picked up by a member of a pick pocket gang and taken to Fagin. The gang also leads Oliver into a life of crime and peril, and he is soon in trouble. Oliver is rescued by a wealthy victim, Mr. Brownlow. But the rest of the gang is not so lucky, and Oliver sees the full force of brutality unleashed on his former criminal comrades.

The portrayal is very classically polished and directed with skill and the story seem to be somewhat inspired by the actual life of Charles Dickens himself, who was removed from school and sent to work for a year to support his family in the rat-infested factory from 8am until 8pm six days a week when he was only twelve years old. He survived on a slice of pudding a day and lived in the attic of a boarding house, and on Sundays he visited his family in prison.

This loss of childhood life left an unforgettable impression, having been introduced to a world where child labor was rampant, and adults showed little compassion for orphaned and poor children.

His love of education reflected in his dramatic novels, which often start with young people’s challenges, but finish with success over hardship, with the help of kind benefactors rescuing them.

He also has an involvement with the Ragged Schools movement in England that provided free education, as well as food, clothing and lodgings for poor children.

The film includes brutal images and suffering of a nine- year old boy, Oliver. He was beaten, starved, teased and tortured. There are also scenes that showed Oliver working despite his young age, fed with dirty leftovers, sleeping in a box and in the street, in ragged clothes with bloodied feet and dirty face, bullied by bigger boys, chased by police and arrested, and kidnapped by thieves.

We have 30 basic human rights, according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created by the United Nations in 1948 to provide a global understanding of how to treat individuals.  And in this film, I have particularly observed the rights which are clearly violated. These includes, the right to play, a bed and some food, the right to education, the right to life, no slavery and no torture.

Charles Dickens, highlighted the difficulty of poor children in the workhouses and factories in his novels, including this film. He criticized the inadequate living conditions including lack of proper housing, sanitation, education and healthcare.

Dickens actually has contributed to raising awareness of issues regarding children’s rights. If we are to assess the content of children’s rights nowadays, according to a Canadian organization, it can be categorized into three categories which are the Provision, Protection and Participation.

The film Oliver Twist, as I’ve said earlier, featured scenes wherein he was kicked out of the Parish Workhouse just because he asks for more lumpy oatmeal. He was not sustained with enough food to eat, he sleeps in a small box and he was not given the opportunity to go to school or to play with other kids, instead he was forced to work in order to live.

According to Children’s Rights under the category of Provision, children have the right to an adequate standard of living, health care, education and services, and to play and recreation. These include a balanced diet, a warm bed to sleep in, and access to schooling.

Also, Oliver experienced a lot of physical and emotional abuse. When he was dismissed from the workhouse, Oliver is sent to Mr. Sowerberry, a coffin-maker, whose wife and senior apprentice take an instant dislike to him. After more poor treatment, Oliver snaps and attacks Noah, the older apprentice, for having insulted his mother. He was beaten and punished.

And of course, he experienced worse situations when he ended up getting in with the wrong crowd - a gang of thieves - and doing some things which he knows that he shouldn't.

On his first outing with the pickpockets, two of the boys steal a man’s handkerchief and Oliver is framed. However he is proven innocent by an eyewitness, and the owner of the handkerchief, the wealthy Mr. Brownlow takes pity on Oliver, who had collapsed from a fever in the courtroom. Brownlow informally adopts Oliver, giving him new clothes and the promise of a good education.

The leader of the gang, force Oliver to help them in robbing Brownlow’s house. They are discovered and Oliver is wounded in a brief shootout between Brownlow and Sikes. As the three escape, Bill decides to murder Oliver to ensure his silence.

These scenarios clearly showed the child’s life in danger and according to the category under Protection, that children have the right to protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination. This includes the right to safe places for children to play; constructive child rearing behavior, and acknowledgment of the evolving capacities of children.

While under the category Participation, it states that children have the right to participate in communities and have programs and services for themselves. This includes children's involvement in libraries and community programs, youth voice activities, and involving children as decision-makers.

All of those weren’t made possible for Oliver to experience as a child when he was still in the hands of those criminals

Now, let us have a brief talk about the say of Children’s rights today.

The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child has the highest level of signatories of all international human rights treaties. They specifically addresses the need for the State to protect children from maltreatment and abuse (Art 19); from economic exploitation, and performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development (Art 32); recognize the rights of the child to rest and leisure and play activities (Art 31); and with periodic review of the treatment where a child is placed in the care of the State (Art 25).

Many of these provisions are implemented through the Children and Young People Act 2008. Also, the Human Rights Act 2004 provides children with rights such as, every child has the right to the protection needed by the child because of being a child, without distinction or discrimination of any kind’; no-one may be imprisoned only because of the inability to carry out a contractual obligation’; states that a child who is charged with a criminal offence has the right to a procedure that takes account of the child’s age & the desirability of promoting the child’s rehabilitation; protects people from forced work or compulsory labour.

However, according to statistics, even though there are written laws concerning children’s rights, children across the world continue to be exploited.

A number of Oliver Twist still lingers along the street, he might be the one eating leftovers outside the restaurant, getting a good night sleep across the cold road, doing heavy works to earn a small amount of money or the one you gave alms before but was not satisfied saying, “Please sir, I want some more.”