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Paradise Road

Play trailer Poster for Paradise Road R 1997 1h 55m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
48% Tomatometer 23 Reviews 78% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A group of foreign women -- including an educated British musician (Glenn Close), an Australian nurse (Cate Blanchett) and an American socialite (Julianna Margulies) -- leave Singapore during World War II. When their boat is attacked, they wash up in Japanese-occupied Sumatra and end up in a POW camp. Conditions there are grim, with prisoners brutally punished for minor violations. But the captives soon decide to form a singing group that just may lift these very different women out of misery.
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Paradise Road

Critics Reviews

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Emanuel Levy Variety 06/21/2007
C
A large cast of gifted actress, including Glenn Close and Frances McDormand, is largely wasted in Beresford's honroable but failed effort to pay tribute to a group of disparate women held captive by the Japanese in WWII. Go to Full Review Susan Wloszczyna USA Today 01/01/2000
1.5/4
Even with its grueling pageant of torture and abuse at the hands of monstrously inhuman Japanese officers, Road never reaches the heart. Go to Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
2/4
The movie is an anecdote, not a story. Go to Full Review Mike Davies Birmingham Post Sep 24
The ensemble cast pulls out all the stops to ensure the deaths do shock and the heart is well and truly wrung. Go to Full Review Mal Vincent The Virginian-Pilot 03/29/2022
2.5/4
Paradise Road is a unique look back in both style and content, but its subject matter deserved more engrossing treatment. Go to Full Review Murtada Elfadl Sundays with Cate 05/01/2020
C
Never lifts off to anywhere that's profound or moving or interesting Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Karl P @RT94872879 08/16/2025 I must echo those who say, in essence, "the critics must have been watching a different movie!" Ok, it's not "Bridge on the River Kwai." But it succeeds very well for what it is - a demonstration of the human spirit winning out over adversity. Lots of great performances. And the choral music, performed by a Dutch choir, is extraordinary. See more Mohammad F @RT61900390 04/09/2023 FRANCES McDORMAND is THE BEST! See more 12/14/2018 This movie was really sad. Wow so many good actresses in it. Cate Blanchett and the lady from Shirley Valentine in it too. Worth watching. See more 12/30/2016 I didn't realize until the end that this was based on a true story. As with any group of women thrown together in these circumstances, there are the annoying lot that make you want to b*tch slap them, but the acting is well done, and Pamela Rabe is always true to her characters. See more 07/05/2016 A little slow, but a beautiful story of human strength. The See more 02/21/2015 Powerful, poignant and tragic slice of WWII history. Top notch cast of exceptional women portraying heroic survivors. See more Read all reviews
Paradise Road

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Bruce Beresford

Director

Glenn Close

Adrienne Pargiter

Pauline Collins

Daisy 'Margaret' Drummond

Cate Blanchett

Susan Macarthy

Frances McDormand

Dr. Verstak

Julianna Margulies

Topsy Merritt

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Paradise Road

Paradise Road (1997) Paradise Road (1997) Paradise Road (1997) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis A group of foreign women -- including an educated British musician (Glenn Close), an Australian nurse (Cate Blanchett) and an American socialite (Julianna Margulies) -- leave Singapore during World War II. When their boat is attacked, they wash up in Japanese-occupied Sumatra and end up in a POW camp. Conditions there are grim, with prisoners brutally punished for minor violations. But the captives soon decide to form a singing group that just may lift these very different women out of misery.
Director
Bruce Beresford
Producer
Greg Coote, Sue Milliken
Screenwriter
David Giles, Martin Meader, Bruce Beresford, Betty Jeffrey
Distributor
Fox, 20th Century Fox
Production Co
Village Roadshow Entertainment
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 11, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.9M
Runtime
1h 55m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby Digital
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