Paradise Road [DVD]

Glenn Close is amazing in this movie as well as other well recognized actresses. This movie is based on real events and while very graphic at times, showing the horrors of war, It also shows the depth of the human spirit and how grace can move people to make decisions that uncover the true soul of humans. All of us have to deal with evil and we choose how to respond. These women were very courageous. This story is filled with scenes many will find disturbing. If you have suffered abuse in your life pass! If war scenes upset you, pass! There are scenes of abuse, torture, attempted rape, fighting and animal abuse. Children, men and women die. However if you are strong enough mentally and often are encouraged by seeing the human spirit prevail through trials, I think you will enjoy this movie as it is historically true and can educate in a way we all need. Hopefully, we can become a society that denies abusing others and warring with others. War is devastating! And this movie holds back no punches but again the human spirit prevails, lifetime relationships and friendships continue on, based on the bonding in these camps. I highly recommend this movie to mature audiences. Be blessed! :)

Movies about how women fared in WWII, other than those missing sweethearts, are rarely told ... especially of those who saw the war up front and close. So this was a sleeper for me ... I'd not heard of it until I stumbled across a mention.With an all Star cast, this tells the true story of women and children, evacuated by ship from Singapore in 1942, were attacked by Japanese aircraft, had their vessel sunk, and then were picked up by the Japanese or otherwise made their way to Sumatra.There, they were rounded up and put into female detention camps and treated almost as badly as men in similar situations. The Japanese were brutal in treatment and punishment. But two women had the idea to create a vocal orchestra, in defiance of their Japanese captors, thus creating a unifying force for the women, an outlet for their suffering, and earning the grudging admiration of their Japanese captors.Supremely well done!!

I bought a recent copy of P.R. to give as a gift. I've owned my copy for years and watched it many times. The cast is brilliant - Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, Cate Blanchett, Pauline Collins and many others. It includes more than one scene of unspeakable cruelty against the women prisoners, even of jealousy and resentment among the prisoners, but they are far outweighed by the closeness, affection, and self-sacrifice which grows among the prisoners. Pauline Collins character, born Daisy/always wanted to be called Margaret, is particularly affecting as are the short poems she writes as graveside eulogies for those who fail to survive. There is even one scene of redemption, for a Japanese soldier, a lover of music. I recommend this film most highly.

This movie is late 1990's and may be a good introduction to those unfamiliar with the Japanese internment camps in the Pacific WWII. This movie failed on so many levels. Considering all the material available to work with, it did not convey the utterly abysmal and horrendous circumstances of women and children taken prisoner. Rather, I would recommend Tenko, a fine BBC series dealing with just this subject. And of course books. To view Tenko, I would recommend purchasing a Region2 Player which we did here on Amazon and works great with overseas Region2 DVD's including the Tenko series.

This is a good, although slightly dramatised, story of the courage and fortitude of a group of Australian, British and Dutch women who endured brutal treatment at the hands of the Japanese during WWII. These unfortunate women and some children were captured after attempting to evacuate from Singapore to Australia when their ship was strafed and bombed by Japanese aircraft. This movie chronicles the brutality and general hardship of their captivity throughout the war and the amazing way they struggled to maintain morale by organising a choral group to entertain themselves and their guards. The music in the film is taken from the surviving, pencil-written manuscripts that a couple of the women produced from memory. Aside from some minor stylistic weaknesses, one negative, expressed by Australian reviewers when the film was released, is that it omits the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers against the Australian sailors and women of the army nursing corps who also survived the ship's sinking.

A difficult movie to watch. It is the story of a group of female prisoners of war, held by the Japanese during WWII. They form a choir and hum classical music. Their actions and pride influence the Japanese, but that doesn't mean there is not a great deal of suffering within the camp.Glenn Close is fabulous, as always. I count her as one of the top actresses in America today, if not the top. I will watch it again, but have to walk away from it for a time before I can do so.

Very good movie based on an historical event. The internment of women by the Japanese in Workd War II. The film is well acted. I do recommend this film. It does contain violence.There is also a BBC series from the ‘80 Tenko which deals with the same subject that is excellent.The book “A Town Like Alice” by Nevil Shute also deals in part with this subject which is a very good read. Nevil Shute has many book all very good.

I liked this film, although I can not really say it is a masterpiece. Below, more of my impressions, with some limited SPOILERS."Paradise Road" tells the story of a large group of European, Australian and American women captured by the Japanese in 1941-42 and imprisoned in Belalau concentration camp (officially called an internment camp - but we soon learn enough to know better) on Sumatra. It is based on true story of women such as young Dutch student Helen Colijn, British missionary Margaret Dryburgh and Australian military nurses Betty Jeffrey, Vivian Bullwinkel, Pat Darling and Wilma Oram. Memories written by Helen Colijn ("Song of survival") and Betty Jeffrey ("White coolies") provided most of the scenario. The film describes all the period from early 1942, when the inmates arrive at the camps, to the September 1945, when the camp is liberated by allied forces.Australian veteran director Bruce Beresford gathered for this film quite en ensemble cast - Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett, Julianna Margulies, Jennifer Ehle and Frances McDormand, to name just those most known - and put all this combined talent to REALLY good use. I especially liked the performance by Julianna Margulies, who actually outstaged Glenn Close, cast as main hero of the film...This is a very watchable film, stepping proudly in the traces of its predecessors such as "Three came home", "A town like Alice" and of course "Tenko" series. Its particularity lies in the description of prisoners "orchestra" or rather chorus, which, under the direction of Margaret Dryburgh (in this film renamed Margaret Drummond), really performed classical music for inmates and even the Japanese guards from 1943 to 1945. "Paradise road" includes especially an incredible rendering of Dvorak's largo from "New World" symphony - for obvious reasons it is of course not the best ever, but it is the most touching I ever heard...There is however one thing which makes it impossible for me to give this quite good film five stars - the director deliberately watered down the violence those brave women were exposed to and especially Japanese atrocities. Yes, there is one execution scene in this film, and starvation, disease and despair take their toll - but the real horror of Japanese concentration camps is NOT shown here. In fact, this film is so soft, that even the old "Three came home" made in 1950 (with Claudette Colbert as main star), shows more violence towards women... Honestly, I think that by deliberately censoring his own film and choosing to ignore almost all violence described by Helen Colijn and Betty Jeffrey, the director hurt "Paradise Road"...But still, this is a good film, with five great actresses in very unusual roles giving a great show and with some very touching and dramatic scenes. At 122 minutes this is a long film, but it doesn't feel long at all. A recommended viewing - but if you want to learn more about how horrible was the fate of women captured or enslaved by Japanese from 1941 to 1945, you can read the original memories by Helen Colijn and Betty Jeffrey and also - warmly recommended - those two books: "The real Tenko. Extraordinary True Stories of Women Prisoners of the Japanese" by Mark Felton and especially "The Comfort Women. Japan's Brutal Regime of Enforced Prostitution in the Second World War" by George Hicks.

Based on the true story of some of the colonial women who were evacuated from Singapore - too late - before the Japanese invasion of British-held territory in World War II. Unbearable hardships - heroism and cowardice, deprivation, starvation, unspeakable cruelty and degradation ... and yet you will be inspired by the way many of the women transcended the worst of circumstances by risking all to participate in the vocal orchestra, producing exquisite music that built bridges between themselves and even their enemy. I watched this on VHS years ago, and managed to buy the DVD recently via Amazon. (I was dismayed when the cover was in German and the voices were dubbed, but you just have to select 'ENGLISH' on the language options, and all is well.) If you are at all interested in the Second World War, or in music, or in human survival and courage, you shouldn't miss this.

Enjoyed this film very much.Bought it because my favourite actress Cate Blanchett is in it,she can do no wrong what a talent.It was heart wrenching at times with the brutality of the soldiers but I think it was so believable. Well acted by all,and well worth watching

good quality cast & a very decent storyline.world war 2 women prisoner of war suffering at the hands of japanese barbarians and all that.everything that cold make a very good film was ruined by using poor quality filming material.finished product was a very grainy picture & at times could not see anything.

Glossy depiction of the horrors of war in the Pacific which is an almost forgotten conflict today. Desperate women battling to stay alive while keeping a semblance of decency in appalling circumstances. Saved by the courage and determination of one woman who forms a choir to givè them some way of rising above their desperate circumstances.