Rating: 
Summary: Perfect 10!
Review: Paradise Road depicts the actual events of what really happen during the years of WWII. Held hostage on a remote island a groups of women and their children are forced to abide by every wish the Japanese want. To suvive the harsh climate a group of the woman create a choir called "The Paradise Road Choir" directed by one of their stronger women, Adriane,(Close) on the to ease the saddness that is brought by not knowing where their husbands are or if they will ever return home. Both tragedy and triamph follow the group of woman thorough the three years they are held hostage. I recomend this video to all who are able to watch rated R movies(war violence and brief nudity)and if you are very sensitive make sure that a box of kleenex's next to you.
Rating: 
Summary: Looking for a Chick flick? Look no further!
Review: Paradise Road provides a moving story depicting the unfortunate women who were captured by the Japanese in the South Pacific during World War II. The women learn to live together and with the help of Adrienne Pargiter (Glenn Close) and Margaret Drummond (Pauline Collins), the women form a vocal orchestra which brings them even closer together and enables them to forget their sad circumstances however briefly it may be. Cate Blanchett's performance was noteworthy, as well. She portrays the strong-willed nurse, Susan McCarthy. This film provides an excellent 'chick flick' as it shows women bonding and overcoming the odds to survive. Close, Blanchett, and Collins provide excellent performances, and it is worth seeing the film just to see these remarkable performances.
Rating:
Summary: Moving, Magnificent, Mesmerizing!
Review: Paradise Road, has got to be the most moving War Time movie I have seen (the Patriot coming in at close second).
It is of a POW camp of woman in Sumatra who undergo terrible conditions where their own friends drop - one by one from disease, or perhaps execution. In spite of all this they still manage to show the barbarious Japanese that they still had some spirit left by forming their own vocal orchestra.
Cate Blanchett's performance is to be noted as in it she faces death were it left me in tears to watch her demise in the Pacific sun. She moved me incredibly and when I watched it I was sure she was my favourite actress.
Paradise Road is a must-see! If you have to see two films in your whole life-time watch this.... then watch it again! ;-)
Rating: 
Summary: The Hell Road... Why did Japnese spare them !?!
Review: Poor white women tortured by evil Japanese. I will start to cry already. Now answer me ,you neo-colonist folk, what were these women doing in that part of Asia in a first place ? They were on touristic trip ? NO , they ruled enslaved nations of Asia together with their husbnds and lovers. Because of that the only character I felt sorry (beside Japanese) is a Chinese girl burnt alive by prison guards.
P.S. Japanese soldiers would never allow their flag to be dishonered even if they have been defeated !
Rating:
Summary: A woman's vocal orchestra in a Japanese internment camp
Review: Right before the fall of Singapore in February 1942 a group of women, predominantly English but also including Dutch, Australian, and other Western nationalities, were evacuated on ship to Australia. However, when the ship is sunk they are captured by the Japanese and put in an internment camp. Over the rest of the war they suffer the attendant horrors of being the prisoners of the Japanese and they rise above their condition by creating a vocal orchestra, a chorus that performs hummed renditions of the works of Mozart, Dvorak, and Ravel.
There are certainly some memorable and harrowing moments in "Paradise Road" reflecting the brutality of life in a Japanese internment camp. Such horrors are supposed to stand in contrast to the beautiful music these women created in their prison camp by putting together a vocal orchestra. However, at the end of this 1999 film from director Bruce Beresford we learn that the vocal orchestra only performed for a couple of years before half its members had died, and we simply do not get the sense that things were that bad in this film, even though intellectually we know this must have been the case. As is pointed out, the Japanese do not like Europeans, prisoners, or women, and of course with these women we have all three. In contrast, one of the women refuses to hate her captors, explaining: "I just can't bring myself to hate people. The worse they behave, the sorrier I feel for them."
I suppose it is politically incorrect today to show the brutality the Japanese displayed in dealing with prisoners. The concept of surrender was an anathema to the Japanese and soldiers who surrendered rather than die in battle or kill themselves were seen as being without honor. With Holocaust stories there is a distinction to be made between the Nazis and the Germans, but the culture and political history of the Japanese do not allow for such a distinction. In the film the brutality is reduced to a couple of key figures, Sergeant Tomiashi (Clyde Kusatsu), called "The Snake" by the women, and Captain Tanaka (Stan Egi), who are portrayed as being basically sadistic, although "The Snake" becomes a symbol of the possibility of redemption in the film. Sab Shimono is Colonel Hirota, the camp commander, but he has little to say until the end of the film and simply symbolizes the power that must be obeyed. The focal character on the Japanese side becomes his interpreter (David Chung), who reminds me of the herald in Euripides' "Trojan Women": the man who must announce policies of which he does not approve.
It is important that the vocal orchestra be seen as an attempt to create grace and beauty in the depth of Hell, and not simply as a response to the long years of mind numbing prison labor. But I think that the extent to which that key connection is recognized in this film is up to the willingness of the audience to couch it that way. I also find myself wishing that there was more of the vocal orchestra performing (the music is performed using the original scores, which survived the war), and must admit I was survived there was not at least one montage contrasting the gloriously beautiful music with the indignities of life in that camp.
The one area where there is no room for complaint is in the stellar ensemble cast of actresses, most of whom appear for most of the film without makeup (in the everyday sense of the word). Glenn Close bring a strong sense of resolve and reserve to the role of the orchestra's conductor, Adrienne Pargiter, aided by Pauline Collins as Margaret Drummond, a missionary who is able to recreate the necessary sheet music from memory. Even without the makeup many of the faces are recognizable: Cate Blanchett plays Susan Macarthy, a nurse, Julianna Margulies is the American Topsy Merritt, who is tempted by the relative life of luxury offered to women who agree to be prostitutes for the Japanese, Jennifer Ehle is Rosemary Leighton-Jones, longing for her husband, Elizabeth Spriggs is Mrs. Roberts, who cares more about her status and dog than her daughters or anyone else, Wendy Hughes is the stoic Mrs. Dickson, Johanna ter Steege is Sister Wilhelminia, who wanted to be an engineer and not a nun, and Frances McDormand is Dr. Verstak, a German Jew who escaped the Nazis only to become the guest of their Eastern allies.
In the end "Paradise Road" is not as memorable as I might have hoped, but it is certainly worth watching and should not be dismissed as simply being a counterpart of sorts to the "Playing for Time," about the orchestra comprised of Jewish women at Auschwitz. Even if it is inadequate to the task of creating truly transcendent moments, we certainly can understand and appreciate that once upon a time, in the real world, a group of real women actually achieved such moments.
Rating:
Summary: Paradise Road
Review: The courage displayed by the women in Paradise Road has haunted me ever since I saw it for the first time. Based on a true story, this is one of the finest movies about WWII ever made.
Rating:
Summary: Filmaking At Its Best
Review: The sheer power of this film will knock your socks off. The struggle these women have is brought to life with wonderful acting, wrting and some great special effects. Close brings charm, wit and heart to her characters like no other actress could and the supporting cast is an absolute delight. There is absolutely no other film like it; it brings tears, joy, history and beauty like no film can.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Cast, Touching Story
Review: The story is extremely moving. The cast, however, it not to be believed. It seems all talented actresses today have a part in this film, and give one of the best preformances of their lives. The characters are three dimensional and complex - never flat. Disturbing at times, strong with the beauty of humanity at others. Perfect. Makes you laugh, cry, and cringe. Great!
Rating:
Summary: At Best This Is a Once in a Lifetime Movie, A True Must See
Review: This in my estimate is one of the best movies ever-made. I highly recommend it to anyone male or female. I don't watch R-rated movies... This is one of those you can't figure out why it's rated R... Other than minor war violence. As a Christian, I found that the story-line is rich, hopeful, faith building and lively. This movie will stay with you for a very long time. There are so many different facets... The missionary character is my favorite. But each person that I have recommended the movie to, relates to a different character. This is not just a movie for women... Trust me on that! Paradise Road tells the story of many different European women held prisoners of War, by the Japenese, by exploring each character in a very simple way. The symphony that is created is spectacular. Glenn Close was flawless. I'm a guy who likes truely well thought, written, produced, and acted movies... Paradise Road is all that and then some. I can't say enough... Watch it and write your own review!
Rating:
Summary: Paradise Road - Song of Survival
Review: This is one of my all-time favourite films.The moving tale of women POWs who form a chorus and use vocal music to help cope with the harsh reality of Japanese internment. Paradise Road is a wonderful movie, a true story wonderfully told. It never fails to move me everytime I watch it and I have watched it a few times! ;-)
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