Paradise Road (1997)

Director:

Bruce Beresford

Writers:

David Giles (story) and
Martin Meader (story) ...

Release Date:

11 April 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Japanese | Singapore | Prison Camp | Sumatra | Prison

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Glenn Close	...	Adrienne Pargiter
Frances McDormand	...	Dr. Verstak
Pauline Collins	...	Daisy 'Margaret' Drummond
Cate Blanchett	...	Susan Macarthy
Jennifer Ehle	...	Rosemary Leighton-Jones
Julianna Margulies	...	Topsy Merritt
Wendy Hughes	...	Mrs. Dickson
Johanna ter Steege	...	Sister Wilhelminia (as Johanna Ter Steege)
Elizabeth Spriggs	...	Mrs. Roberts
Pamela Rabe	...	Mrs. Tippler
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Sergeant Tomiashi, 'The Snake'
Stan Egi	...	Captain Tanaka
David Chung	...	The Interpreter
Sab Shimono	...	Colonel Hirota
Penne Hackforth-Jones	...	Mrs. Pike

MPAA:

Rated R for prisoner of war brutality and violence.

Runtime:

122 min | 114 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English | Japanese | Dutch | Malay

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:12 | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Germany:12 (w) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Marrickville Town Hall, Marrickville, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Village Roadshow Pictures

Trivia:

The final credits state that the vocal orchestra performed over thirty works in the P.O.W camp during 1943 and 1944. It discontinued performing though when about half of the members had died and the remaining survivors were not well enough to participate.

Goofs:

Factual errors: An early night scene of the women swimming ashore (set in the week after 10 February 1942) shows the full moon. The moon was between last quarter and new moon that week.

Quotes:

Dr. Verstak: You want me to give up food and soap and God knows what else, so I can starve and sing?

Movie Connections:

References Playing for Time (1980) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Mad About the Boy

Surprisingly good

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.