A group of English, American, Dutch and Australian women creates a vocal orchestra while being imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp on Sumatra during World War II.
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Reviews
Too much of everything
Simply A Masterpiece
Good story, Not enough for a whole film
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
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.
Paradise road One of the best films Glenn Close ever made !The whole cast was outstanding, as was the filming and direction.... down to the last prisoner, soldier, or eaten snail... Why is this so good? The story line is excellent, the whole plot is excellent... you WANT to get into it.You feel everything that the characters feel in the movie ." Feel" is the key word. These are the feelings the movie evoked in me:I wanted to rally with them, cry, get angry , be afraid, not be afraid, escape, survive, hunt for food, rescue, protect. Felt pain, anguish and smelled the scorching of flesh being burned alive.Death, sorrow, hopelessness of getting malaria.I wanted to murder the soldiers and officers, one by one, and bury them in a deep pit in the jungle ! Fight back, sing, love, show compassion, show bravery, kill the general when he said, " the war is over ! Now, we can all be friends again".Feel the strength of over-coming all these odds, because of the unity of these strong women.Knowing it is based on a true story makes me wonder what atrocities were omitted to make this picture viewable, ( the horrors and inhumanities of war ). The entire cast is in total sync with each other.Close always plays her roles with the most believability possible. She is the character. You feel it. You believe it This movie evokes every emotion that one can possibly feel, yet you leave it with a promise of hope and strength, rather than sadness. Hooray for the strong women . A most remarkable production. I watch it every year, too good not to !
I just watched this film while flipping channels late night. I was very very impressed. The acting was great, the story was gripping, and I was drawn into the world of these women. I am not very familiar with Japanese culture, so I have no comment on the portrayal of the Japanese in the film. However, I did appreciate the realistic portrayal of various people within the groups in the film. Some were certainly wicked people, and some were certainly holy people, but I found that the film did a great job of imitating real life, where the vast majority of people are average folks who want to be and do good. I was moved to tears at times, and laughter as well. I give this film two massive thumbs up!
If I was going to describe this movie in one word, the word would be atrocities.I think men who are assigned to the seeing after of POW's, especially female POW's, are particularly inept, and not good for much else, and probably realizing this, and being angry about it, are experts through their anger, in the field of designing, and applying atrocities.The courage, and resourcefulness, of these ladies was impeccable. Even when faced with what seemed to be the most dire of circumstances, they were able to maintain their digninty.The music they created through the expertise of Glenn Close's character, was unique to say the least, and also enjoyed by their keepers, I believe to such an extent, that they were spared at least some of the indignities they would have had to suffered.I've watched this movie several times, and although there are a few places where it seems to get a little slow, it is still a very enjoyable film, because these slow places are essential to the movie as a whole.I couldn't write this without mentioning Frances McDormand. She is so versatile, and in this movie, she proves once again, that there's nothing she can't do!