User Reviews

This film gripped me from the opening scene in the hotel ballroom and prooved to be a class act right to the end. Director Bruce Beresford's track record includes Driving Miss Daisy, Tender Mercies and Breaker Morant, so Paradise Road came as a special treat, not realising at the time of viewing that he had directed these films. The realistic scenes of violence had a tremendous impact in contrast to some of the wonderful underplaying of the leading actresses, notably Glenn Close and Pauline Collins. The Japanese actors, although unknown to me were chillingly effective. I can only hope for more films of this calibre but alas they are few and far between.

Why didn't more people see this film? This is what makes it great:

As an ensemble piece it works wonderfully - the cast are truly magnificent. Glenn Close is fabulous as the 'central' character and most well known 'star', but she does not monopolise all the scenes and screen time. She blends in with what is a wonderful cast, and does so impeccably. Why she hasn't been given more kudos as an actress is beyond me - she is stunning.

The film worked perfectly because of what comes across as a genuine rapport between the female cast. Each actress brings a different element to the story - Jennifer Ehle is strong willed and beautiful, Julianna Marguilles fiesty and dominant, Pauline Collins has such a human quality which she conveys to perfection, Cate Blanchett portrays wonderfully a quiet woman with a rebellious side. All compliment and balance each other. The actresses succeed admirably in bringing to the fore the bond that grew between their real life inspirations for this story.

The direction is precise and the cinematogrpahy beautiful. Despite the bleak context, Japan still looks vibrant and colourful, full of life.

The score. I can't do justice to the score in words - the vocal orchestra formed by the women is just beautiful and poignant to listen to and really does need to be heard to be understood. Somehow the actresses manage to make the music symbolise their humanity and spirit. It works wonderfully.

Overall, this is a heartfelt film with a profound message of hope which runs all the way through it. 'Paradise Road' is one of those rare films which reminds you of the indestructible nature of the human spirit. I wish there were more films like this one, and I wish more people had have seen this film. In a word it's a gem.

Paradise Road is based on the true story of women POWs in Sumatra during WWII. The film, for the most part, follows what really happened... with one glaring exception!

The incident that is prominently missing from Paradise Road is the Bangka Island massacre, which was one of the worst atrocities committed against women POWs during WWII and is an integral part of this story.

After their ship, The SS Vyner Brooke, was sunk, the survivors made for the nearest land which was Bangka Island. They came to shore in different places but a group of more than a hundred people ended up on Radji beach. The group consisted of 22 Australian Army nurses, some civilian men, women and children, and 30 British soldiers from another ship which had been sunk. The island was fully occupied by the Japanese and the group unanimously decided to give themselves up. The group leader set off to find someone to surrender to. The civilian women and children began walking towards the main town on the island. The 22 nurses remained behind with the men and the soldiers (many of whom were badly wounded), an elderly British woman also remained with her wounded husband.

When the group leader returned with a group of 20 Japanese, they ignored all requests for surrender. The Japanese shot and bayoneted the men, then ordered the 23 women to walk into the ocean. When they reached waist depth, the Japanese open fired with a machine gun and mowed the women down.

There was one survivor. One of the nurses, Vivian Bullwinkel, was shot through the side and survived by pretending to be dead. She hid in the jungle for 12 days, caring for a British soldier who had been bayoneted and left for dead (he later died). Eventually, she gave herself up and was re-united with the rest of the women in the prison camp in Muntok. When she told them what had happened on the beach and they quickly realised that they would all be killed if the Japanese learned there was a witness to the massacre. So they made a pact not to speak of it again until they were free.

Paradise Road is a fictional film based loosely on fact, not a documentary. Sometimes it is necessary to make changes to the real sequence of events in order for the film's structure and pacing to work. I do accept this and I would prefer to see a good film rather than a accurate one.

But in leaving out the massacre on the beach, the film does a disservice to these women. These women were aware, from the start of their internment, that the Japanese were capable of atrocities on a massive scale and that there was no safety in numbers. They lived in a constant state of fear that the Japanese would repeat such an act or learn that Vivian Bullwinkel had survived the massacre and kill them all.

Paradise Road tries to portray Japanese atrocities with a fictitious incident where a woman is set on fire (which did not really happen) but this does not compare to the scale of the 80 people massacred on Radji beach and the effect it had on the women in the camp. There were 32 Australian Army nurses in the camp and the women who died on the beach were their friends and colleagues. They were from the same unit and had nursed together for the first two years of the war. All their interactions with the Japanese guards were coloured by the knowledge that they had murdered 22 of their friends in cold blood.

Paradise Road is a very good movie and I suspect it will become the definitive film about female POWs during WWII. Which sadly means that the 22 women who were murdered on Radji beach will be lost from memory... and they deserve better than that.

If you want to learn more about the women POWs of Sumatra, I suggest you read "White Coolies: Australian Nurses Behind Enemy Lines," the diary kept by camp survivor Betty Jeffrey, or read the biography "Bullwinkel" by Norman G. Manners. There is also an excellent 1985 documentary called "Song of Survival", and a really tacky episode of "Willesee's Australians" that dramatises the story of Vivian Bullwinkel.

First class work here. The film follows a group of women captured in Asia by the Japanese, and interned as enemy aliens. It shows the inhuman brutality that the Japanese inflicted on anyone they considered to be of an inferior race. (i.e. not Japanese) (for that matter anyone not samurai) As a coping mechanism, and partially in defiance of their captors, the women form a vocal orchestra, playing the parts of classical music with only their voices. The music soothes the women, those in the orchestra, and those who aren't. The Japanese soldiers even come to enjoy the sound, and the atrocity rate drops a couple of notches.

Stand out performances abound here. In fact I can't really single out any of the cast. They were all good, including the Japanese actors. I had thought from the reviews that the music would be the largest part of the film, with just the backdrop of the prison camp, but it really wasn't. I recommend this film.

The film is based on actual true events and was inspired by the reminisces of the actual women prisoners of war, many of whom became life-long friends after the ordeal. Fact-based recounting of a group of women who are imprisoned on the island of Sumatra by the Japanese during World War II and used music as a relief to their misery .During WWII a group of women are captured by the Japanese and struggle to survive in brutal POW camp in the Far East . Their confinement is recounted in unsparing and harrowing detail , as Irish/British/Dutch/Jew women find themselves interned for the long duration . As orders from Nipponese Army Administration are strict as ¨Men and women will be imprisoned separately ¨ . ¨To avoid punishments and beatings , the ladies should presume themselves to endeavor , with passive behavior not negative¨. It is an internment camp, where civilians are kept for no other reason than being of the wrong nationality , this happened, for instance, to Japanese civilians in the U.S. Meanwhile, Adrienne suffering a surreal and brutal experience ; she is cruelly attacked ; however , she attempts to lift the spirits of the inmates and the brutalized women. Later on , she creates a choir , but the film refers to the singing prisoner of war women as a vocal orchestra rather than as a choir . This P.O.W film centers women prisoners as its principal cast and subjects with a theme of utilizing music to survive the horrors of war . The final credits state that the vocal orchestra performed over thirty works in the P.O.W camp . It discontinued performing though when about half of the members had died and the remaining survivors were not well enough to participate. The real-life first concert held by the women in the actual P.O.W camp was held on 27 December 1943 and the vocal orchestra performed over thirty works in the P.O.W camp during 1943 and 1944.

¨Paradise road¨(1997) is a good film set in Singapur , directed by Bruce Beresford with an all- woman star-cast as Glenn Close as Adrienne Pargiter , Julianna Margulies as Topsy Merritt , Frances McDormand as a Jew doctor , Cate Blanchett as Susan Macarthy and Jennifer Ehle as Rosemary Leighton-Jones . And special mention to Clyde Kusatsu as cruel , brutal Sergeant Tomiashi, 'The Snake' . Interesting and strong drama , being perfectly adapted by the same director Bruce Beresford , David Giles (story) and Martin Meader (writing credits) , also producers . The film is based on the diaries, reminisces and testimonies of Helen Colijn and Betty Jeffrey as described in their books, "Song of Survival" and "White Coolies". No weakest in the cast and few in the movie , which presents the women's Japanese captors as human and inhuman at the same time with clashing cultures included . Clearly there's much longer plot in this, but director Bruce Beresford concentrates on the passionate acting of Glenn Close . It's a taut psychological drama about physical and emotional survival focusing on the tensions between Glenn Close, soldiers and camp commander well played by Stan Egi as cultured officer. Crammed with emotive moments , the picture has a string of committed performances from Glenn Close Pauline Collins , Jennifer Ehle , among others . Familiar ground is trod in this prisoner-of-war saga , but the thought-provoking story and magnificent acting help sustain interest. Colorful cinematography filmed on location in Marrickville, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ,Penang ,Malaysia ,Port Douglas, Queensland, Raffles Hotel Singapore . Sensitive musical score , the music in the film was derived from the actual score transcripts used in the P.O.W camps which survived World War II. This superior though overlooked drama , is also laudable for a fairly portrayal of the enemy captors and being rightly directed by Bruce Beresford , this is the second war movie he directed , his first was Breaker Morant.

Other films about women on concentration camps mistreated by Japanese military during WWII are the following : ¨Three came home¨1950 by Jean Negulesco with Claudette Cobert , Patrick Knowles , and Sussue Hayakawa ¨Women on valor¨(1986) by Buzz Kulik with Susan Sarandon , Kristy McNichol and Alberta Watson set in Philippines .

The film was both moving and heart warming. It shows the unbelievable story of a group of women surviving a PoW camp against all the odds. I found it hard to believe that anyone was made to live in the conditions they were put in and live to tell the story. The acting was excellent and i don't think this film has got the praise it deserves. It is made even more moving by the fact it is based on a true story.

Paradise Road is based on a true World War II story of a boat load of women and children fleeing the imminent Japanese occupation of the then British colony. The boat is sunk and survivors made it to the shore of an island that was already occupied by the Japanese military, where they are herded into a brutal prison camp. Brutal World War II prison camps have been portrayed before, but this story is unique because to keep their spirits up the women manage to organize an a capella vocal group that performs classical music for the prisoners. The camp officers and guards join the audience.

I disagree with critic Roger Ebert who found the story line to be less dramatic than it could have been. I found the story gripping from the opening scene of a British high society ball in Singapore in which the British elite expressed their prejudices about Japanese and their erroneous belief that the Japanese army will be no match for the British military. It lost interest only after the war's end was announced. The film ended at that point without going into what the camp was like during the 2 weeks after the Japanese surrendered but before the victors reached the camp.

All the cast performances were very strong. Many of the cast had important parts and all gave very strong credible performances. Glen Close was excellent in what I would call the lead role, the concert organizer and conductor.

Although the action takes place in 1942-1945, the film was made in 1997. The prejudices that existed in the 1942-45 period are included in the film, but the 1997 sensibilities are expressed in making the Japanese military roles multidimensional, rather than pure evil. The only sadist was the Japanese Captain who was a member of the Japanese equivalent of Nazi Germany's Gestapo.

A little slow to start, but the plot picks up early in the film, and leaves you thinking about "What would you do in their position?" - not just the women internees, but also the Japanese Soldiers involved at the time. All are involved with their own emotions, as controlled from 'authorities' above them.

Based on a true event, you can watch this film and empathise with all of the characters (both 'Goodies' and 'Baddies'). You'll be left thinking very hard about the persons who 'did it' for real.

In the middle of the film, when the Vocal Orchestra perform Dvorak's "New World Symphony" without instruments, and at the end of the film, "Londonerry Air" (Oh Danny Boy), a box of tissues may be required accessories.

I stumbled across this movie surfing TV channels late one night. I was drawn right into the plot, and thought it was an incredible story, incredibly well-told. It's a true story, which I previously did not know anything about, but should have. Both the story, itself, and the film, should be much, much better known. It is also one of Glenn Close's best performances. Her performance, and the film, itself, are absoultely gripping! If you like true-life stories that are extremely well-done, such as "We Were Soldiers," then this one is of a similar genre, but with the main characters being women.

I love this movie because I love the characterization of the women in it. I felt powerfully with the women, felt I knew them, felt complete identification with most of them.

I actually think it's hard to specify the actions and words that will make a character both realistic and sympathetic. Showing mere suffering won't do it. But here, Mr. Beresford has been able to stir such warm feelings (particularly toward the Roberts girl, the Glenn Close and Jennifer Ehle, her Dutch friend, and the Cate Blanchett characters). The romanticism, cheer and background of the Ehle character are particularly well drawn.

This is a far superior movie to 'Platoon', by the way - and a wonderful tribute to those who went through the awful 3.5 year ordeal.

Another thing I quite liked (these days) was to see a movie that did not attempt to make the Caucasians the moral villain relative to the other race depicted.

This is not a movie concerned with p.c. appearances - the Japanese are not shown as somehow merely "different", a difference we "simply cannot understand or judge" because of our different culture. Setting a woman on fire for bargaining for medicine for a sick elderly woman is brutality in any culture - and this movie does not attempt to minimize the moral wrong.

Bravo, Mr. Beresford.

I found this a very moving film about a group of fairly ordinary people placed in extraordinary conditions. I found myself quite involved with all the acting and the story line. Here is a film filled with outstanding and understated performances about people's ideals and courage being tested.

As to this story having been told in 2 or 3 other movies, I find that to be an incredible comment. I didn't see anyone saying that there had already been about 100 movies about men fighting in World War II when "Saving Private Ryan" came out. It is time that the stories of these extraordinary women be told. Soldiers aren't the only ones to suffer and die in wars.

This film gives very good example of how horrifying it was to be prisoners of war by the Japanese during WW2. The film was passionate because of the way the

women were able to create their own choir to cope with their misery. But what makes the film horrifying is the way these innocent victims of war were bashed, tortured, shot at, the way they were treated is something hell can't improve on. I'm surprised that I was able to watch the film the whole way through. I was also amazed how these women were able to live through those three horrifying

years. I would rather have committed suicide. Overall I'd say this is an inspiring film because it shows how human beings can survive and live through some of

the most horrible things you could imagine, but if you don't like brutality then don't watch it.

I happened upon this film on HBO while flipping channels. I became engrossed at the point where the women were taken to the internment camp. I had no interest whatsoever to see this film in the theaters because the subject matter seemed too depressing (and it is!), but it is so well acted and such an intense story, that I would highly recommend it.

Avery moving film about the treatment of prisoners of civilians in world war 2.This film is overlooked and seldom shown but it is a good watch.The acting is very good and the cast do very well indeed.I recommend this movie to anyone who likes good human stories though it is quite graphic in parts.8/10

'Paradise Road' is not the first time the story of European and Australian prisoners of the Japanese during WW2 has been told - there is a famous old movie of Neville Shute's 'A Town Like Alice' and the BBC's wonderful tv series, 'Tenko', from the early 1980s. Nevertheless there is certainly scope for this film, which tells the story of a group of largely upper class women who have to come to terms with captivity and brutality as a 'defeated race' and somehow survive the war. The particular twist to this film is the fact-based story of the choir a group of women started in one camp. In other ways, however, the story is practically identical to 'Tenko', only crammed into around 2 hours instead of 30. This means that the effect is very much like watching one of those Reduced Shakespeare Company shows that do the Complete Works of Shakespeare in one performance. Virtually nothing happens in Paradise Road that doesn't happen in Tenko - fair enough, since it is fact based, but you feel like you're watching whole episodes crammed into a single line and you find yourself desperate for more character development - you never find out, for example, who Glenn Close's character really _is_. Despite this, the acting is top-hole and the script-writing is quite sparky, while production values are for the most part extremely high - this is a very good looking film. And therein lies a problem. While the violence is not sanitised, the starvation is. The women in this film appear to have suffered no more ill effects after 3 years of captivity and hard labour than a healthy sun tan and fetching urchin-style crop. The fight-in-the-shower scene shows us an array of perfect bodies with no sores, sunburn, bruises, skin diseases etc. (Again, Tenko did this much better.) When some of the women are meant to be dying of starvation towards the end the idea that these healthy women are meant to be suffering is so laughable as to be more like amateur dramatics than professional movie making. In failing to give a sense of the struggle to survive that the real women went through, this film diminishes their courage and does not do them justice.

This film is watchable, however, and tells stories that need to be told. Watch it by all means - but 'Tenko' is now out on video, so get that next!

My grandmother and her three children (amongst which my mother) were in Japanese war-camps on Java in the Dutch Indies now Indonesia. In Holland we used to call this part of WWII the forgotten war as, for nearly 50 years the Dutch were only discussing the war in Europe and therefore many people were very pleased that this movie was created.

Several years after it's release I saw the movie today for the second time and, I found it surprisingly good. The music moved me and luckily it was not as sentimental as I thought I remembered.

Although the credits mention only Betty Jeffrey, I know that Paradise Road is also based on "Song of Survival" by Helen Colijn. Both Helen and Betty were in this camp. Betty Jeffrey's "White Coolies: Australian nurses behind enemy lines" is the other source for this movie.

Spoilers herein.

Beresford lives in a simple world, one with simulated evil. Into this he places characters to indicate but not express drama.

I have two problems with this film. The first is a matter of simple history. The Holocaust was remarkable because it was mechanized, but Japanese brutality was far more universal: there was no honor in any Japanese man in this theater of war. No honor. The brutality was racial, universal and extreme. 1997 sensibilities soften what really happened, and that's a real shame.

The second problem is the matter of the drama. Most film never attempts reality, and play with different formulas of depicting the real. But when the attempt is to actually convey reality, the company involved has to make a commitment to sacrifice. 'Platoon' s company made that sacrifice. Dennis Quaid make the sacrifice for 'Wyatt Earp.' This film does not. Sure, the ladies are dirty, and they are there when we see some nasty things. Some of them die.

But these are remarkably goodnatured, healthy-looking people who mouth artificial words. They line up well in the courtyard. They don't menstruate. There is no lesbianism. There is no hate. It comes through as filtered fond memories of a hard time.

Oh well, watch it for Cate: I rewatched this because it was Cate Blanchett's first film. Already you can tell that she works differently than those around her: she's committed, she's IN the character. She already is working with multiple personalities: her nurse, the older person's memory of the nurse, and her portrayal of both.

But here's something interesting: hair color. Cate is naturally a redhead, and the harsh Sumatran sun makes even brown hair seem red. Jennifer Ehle is a reddish brunette. Beresford had both of these women darken their hair, while he assigned the red hair to Susie Porter (Oggi), a blond.

Female red hair means something special in films, and the art director decided to avoid it in the main characters. (This is no inexperienced art director: he would next do Malick's terrific 'Red Line' and go on to do a Star Wars pic.) The main characters had to be 'weighty:' no redheads allowed.

Ted's evaluation: 2 of 4: has some interesting elements.

I was very touched by this film. I've seen it 4 or 5 times, and it does not wear thin on re-viewing. Perhaps I bring powerful childhood associations to the film --my most beloved family member fought across the Pacific Theater in the 3rd Marine Division--, but I think many aspects of the Pacific war need to be told and retold. The war in the Pacific was a much more brutal, savage and bloody war for our soldiers, and for non-combatant Euro-American civilians than the war in Europe (with the notable historic exception --of course!-- of the Holocaust). I found Frances McDormand, and the rest of the British, Australian and American (Ms. Margulies)and Japanese cast very convincing. I would rate this film as an 7 on a scale of 10. As a classical pianist, I found the music touching and, likewise, convincing.

I found this movie touching, beautiful and inspirational. Three elements, which I love in any movie are combined into one: War, music, and the strength of women.

There were some brutal moments, some funny, some surprising, and moments where I was moved to tears. A strong ensemble cast, great directing, and fabulous scenery combine to make a memorable film.

Of course there were some historical inaccuracies as there are in any film, and faults in the script. However, I'm perfectly willing to overlook them in light of the fantastic performances by the actors, strength of the story, and beautiful music. Some of the music includes Elgar's Cello Concerto, Bollero, and Dvorak's New World Symphony.

Glenn Close was wonderful as always, and you can recognise Cate Blanchett's star potential. Even then she stands out from the cast. I also adored the performances of Julianna Margulies, and Jennifer Ehle who is fabulous in everything she does.

I recommend others see it- It's my favourite film!

This was a great movie. My mom was a WAVE in WWII, and it shocks me how little has been shown in the theater about the women who served. Recently, a lady from here in WV passed away in a Kentucky nursing home. A book was written about her, "We Were Angels", but no movie. These were nurses captured and detained in a prison in Manila for three years. I recently heard a tape made a missionary, held for three years in solitary confinement on an island in the Pacific. I am glad the women in this movie were given a voice. I hope Hollywood looks for more stories of this caliber.

Glen Close was wonderful, as were the rest of the cast.

I was reminded of another movie about a Nazi death camp, written about those forced to play music to keep arriving prisoners calm.

All in all, this was a movie well worth seeing.

One of the most bittersweet moments in film is when a vehicle meant to show off a fading but well established star becomes an unintentional tribute to a scorching young talent who arrives out of nowhere.

PARADISE ROAD was meant to be a vehicle for Glenn Close, but when you watch it today it's only Cate Blanchett who really shines. Her character is meant to be quite minor -- the Australian farm girl who is punished by the Japanese for speaking out. The problem is, the camera catches all this beauty and strength and wit and resourcefulness in a girl who is only meant to be briefly interesting. Cate stops the film dead every time she is on the screen!

The film is okay, but it would have been more interesting if one of the Japanese officers could have seduced Cate Blanchett and made her his mistress. Instead of having a punishment scene when Cate makes fun of the Japanese flag, I pictured her having to apologize personally to the commander, perhaps over a cup of tea. The thrill of having a real cup of tea after months of misery would be great to see on the face of Cate Blanchett. And of course her face could show suspicion and doubt and pleasure all at the same time -- Cate Blanchett is very talented. But her face would be showing her weakness for the pleasures she's missed, and soon she would be taking hot baths and wearing silk kimonos and slinking around the commander's hut like a real Australian geisha!

That would be a lot more exciting than watching Glenn Close make like Mary Poppins for two hours. Or listening to Frances McDormand do a silly "German" accent. She sounds like Roseanne Barr doing Bela Lugosi! PARADISE ROAD is a so-so movie over all, but Cate Blanchett is thrilling even in her first film role.