grantss
Good, but not great. Interesting story of survival, but it's not that original. There had been numerous WW2 POW / survival-through-unbearable-hardship movies before this, and this isn't that different from those. Plus, writer-director Bruce Beresford pulls his punches with regard to Japanese atrocities in WW2 - the reality was a lot worse than the movie makes out. Emotional and interesting nevertheless.Good cast - Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, Cate Blanchett, Julianna Margulies, among others - and they all give solid performances.
ellethekitty
As someone interested in history, I found this movie totally laughable. In fact, it was so bad I could barely laugh. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who require absolute authenticity in a movie just because it is based in history. After all, movies are dramas and dramas require dramatic license. But This script was so awkward, with the most unbelievable and contrived conversations and dialog. For instance, the women on detail doing work on the men's baths are not likely to be discussing penis size casually. The Japanese, who did commit atrocities, were not likely to have burned a woman alive for a small crime. Not because they were unaccustomed to cruelty, but because fuel was scarce. One dimensional characters, unsophisticated plot. In short, this movie had fake dialog, unbelievable premises, and was a waste of time. if you would like to see a good movie about POW life, Try Empire of the Sun. Even Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence had believable moments, despite its convoluted agendas. Everyone voted to give this movie an average of 6.8 stars must have been on the cast.
TxMike
There is a poem one of the women recited in the movie, while they were in the Japanese prison camp, containing the words "Paradise Road", and it and the title seem to refer to the process of dying, where you are going towards paradise.The movie starts in 1942, in Australia, where men and women are smug about being protected against the Japanese, even after what happened at Pearl Harbor. During an attack, the women and children are ordered away and back to Europe. But at sea Japanese planes attack them, forcing all to abandon ship. Eventually many of them are reunited in Sumtra, captured and imprisoned by the Japanese. They stayed there until the war ended in 1945.Glenn Close is Adrienne Pargiter who assumes a sort of leadership role. While many of the women resigned to their plight, she was looking for ways to improve their existence. One thing she did is organize a vocal orchestra, and they performed many times.Frances McDormand was a Dutch Dr. Verstak, who helped treat many of the ill. Cate Blanchett was a nurse Susan Macarthy. Very pretty Jennifer Ehle was Rosemary Leighton-Jones whose husband was imprisoned elsewhere. Julianna Margulies was Topsy Merritt.The movie really was about the survival of the ladies, many of whom did not, until the end of the war. A bit slow and long, still a worthwhile viewing.
Dan1863Sickles
One of the most bittersweet moments in film is when a vehicle meant to show off a fading but well established star becomes an unintentional tribute to a scorching young talent who arrives out of nowhere. PARADISE ROAD was meant to be a vehicle for Glenn Close, but when you watch it today it's only Cate Blanchett who really shines. Her character is meant to be quite minor -- the Australian farm girl who is punished by the Japanese for speaking out. The problem is, the camera catches all this beauty and strength and wit and resourcefulness in a girl who is only meant to be briefly interesting. Cate stops the film dead every time she is on the screen! The film is okay, but it would have been more interesting if one of the Japanese officers could have seduced Cate Blanchett and made her his mistress. Instead of having a punishment scene when Cate makes fun of the Japanese flag, I pictured her having to apologize personally to the commander, perhaps over a cup of tea. The thrill of having a real cup of tea after months of misery would be great to see on the face of Cate Blanchett. And of course her face could show suspicion and doubt and pleasure all at the same time -- Cate Blanchett is very talented. But her face would be showing her weakness for the pleasures she's missed, and soon she would be taking hot baths and wearing silk kimonos and slinking around the commander's hut like a real Australian geisha! That would be a lot more exciting than watching Glenn Close make like Mary Poppins for two hours. Or listening to Frances McDormand do a silly "German" accent. She sounds like Roseanne Barr doing Bela Lugosi! PARADISE ROAD is a so-so movie over all, but Cate Blanchett is thrilling even in her first film role.
AD
