IMDb RATING
6.8/10
6.1K
YOUR RATING
A group of women who are imprisoned on the island of Sumatra by the Japanese during World War II use music to relieve their misery.A group of women who are imprisoned on the island of Sumatra by the Japanese during World War II use music to relieve their misery.A group of women who are imprisoned on the island of Sumatra by the Japanese during World War II use music to relieve their misery.
- Awards
- 1 win & 7 nominations
Johanna ter Steege
- Sister Wilhelminia
- (as Johanna Ter Steege)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe music in the film was derived from the actual score transcripts used in the P.O.W camps which survived World War II.
- GoofsThe women of the choir did the singing while sitting down because of having to work in the extreme heat during the day left them exhausted.
- Quotes
Adrienne Pargiter: You don't hate them do you?
Margaret Drummond: No.
Adrienne Pargiter: Why not?
Margaret Drummond: I've tried, but I can't bring myself to hate people. The worse they behave, the sorrier I feel for them.
- SoundtracksSymphony No. 9 in E minor Op. 95 'From the New World' II. Largo
Written by Antonín Dvorák (as Antonin Dvorak)
Featured review
'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!
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!
- inconstantreader
- May 17, 2003
- Permalink
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Дорога в рай
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $16,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,007,100
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $62,518
- Apr 13, 1997
- Gross worldwide
- $2,007,100
- Runtime2 hours 2 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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