Paradise Road (1997)

A group of women who are imprisoned on the island of Sumatra by the Japanese during World War II use music as relieve their misery.

Director:

Bruce Beresford

Writers:

David Giles (story), Martin Meader (story)

Stars:

Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, Pauline Collins

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Glenn Close	...	Adrienne Pargiter
Frances McDormand	...	Dr. Verstak
Pauline Collins	...	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	...	The Snake
Stan Egi	...	Captain Tanaka
David Chung	...	The Interpreter
Sab Shimono	...	Colonel Hirota
Penne Hackforth-Jones	...	Mrs. Pike

Storyline

The group of women from different countries and social levels are prisoners in a Japanese POW camp, where one of them, Adrienne, who is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, organizes a vocal band in spite of their guards resistance.

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Plot Keywords:

japanese | prison | island | singapore | prison camp | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for prisoner of war brutality and violence

Details

Country:

Australia USA

Language:

English Japanese Dutch Malay

Release Date:

11 April 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Estrada do Paraíso

Filming Locations:

Trinity Inlet, Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$62,518, 13 April 1997, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,921,471, 1 June 1997

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$960,000, 9 November 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

Samson Productions Pty. Ltd.,Planet Pictures,YTC Motion Picture Investments

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min 114 min (FMC Library Print)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in sequence.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Colonel Hirota: The war is over. Once more we can be friends.

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Connections

References A Town Like Alice (1956)

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Soundtracks

When You Come Home Again
Written by Thomas Connor

User Reviews

Gripping and uplifting true story of women faced with indomitable odds.

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.