And the women are played by an experienced international cast, headed by Glenn Close, recent Oscar winner Frances McDormand, Julianna Margulies and Pauline Collins. Based on memoirs and interviews with survivors, Beresford tells of the struggles of a disparate group of Australian, American and European women, including military nurses and wives of businessmen and diplomats, captured when Japanese soldiers overrun Singapore and Sumatra. They endure many months of starvation, disease, torture and despair under the thumb of a sadistic commandant, in a bamboo prison camp in steamy Sumatra. When one young woman contacts local natives to secure medicine, she is torched before the horrified eyes of her fellow prisoners.
Medical care is negligible.
This is no typical choir. And when they finally come together to perform, it's at great risk. They can only hope that the beauty of their music will soothe their savage captors. It is hard to fault the performances in Paradise Road , or the story. The WAY it is told, though, is less impressive.