Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageParadise Road (1997)
Director: Bruce Beresford
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The Fall of Singapore. A boat evacuating women and children is strafed and sunk. The survivors swim ashore to be met by the Japanese forces in Sumatra and herded into a remote internment camp. For the various women - a dignitary's wife (Close), a missionary (Collins), a model (Ehle), a grande dame (Spriggs), an Aussie nurse (Blanchett), and a lone American (Margulies) - those who can endure will face three years' hard labour. A feminised PoW movie, writer/director Beresford's ensemble film describes downbeat, recalcitrant heroism: the loss of family, serfdom, disease, the threat of rape and prostitution. The 'twist' is the women's choice of succour. Based on Betty Jeffrey's diaries White Coolies, the film documents how inmates formed a 'vocal orchestra' and performed their own arrangements of symphonic classics. Finely acted, opulently produced, old-fashioned, unadventurous and emotionally hidebound.Author: NB
Cast & crew
Director: Bruce Beresford
Producer: Sue Milliken, Greg Coote
Cast: Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, Pauline Collins, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Ehle, Julianna Margulies, Wendy Hughes, Elizabeth Spriggs full cast
Genre(s): War
Duration: 121 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now