Paradise Road Notes
Article on Paradise Road by Sue Sherman
Area of Study 2 Context: Encountering Conflict
Article by Sue Sherman PARADISE ROAD Directed by Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford first gained wide critical success as director of Breaker Morant (1980), a landmark film about three Australian soldiers wrongfully executed for alleged war crimes during the Boer War. Like Breaker Morant, Paradise Road (1997) is based on a true story. Beresford again takes up the theme of Australians’ involvement in war – this time during World War II. This film, however, is not about the exploits of soldiers; it’s about the resilience of women prisoners of war. Beresford researched the story extensively, studying the diaries of prisoners and Japanese historical material to understand the events from both points of view. On The Movie Show (http://www.sbs.com.au/films/movie/3156/Paradise/Road) in June 1997, Beresford explained that there were many ‘prison camp’ films about the heroism of men. What he wanted to convey in Paradise Road was the heroism and resourcefulness of women, and he wanted also to celebrate their ability to create beauty in the dreadful conditions of the jungle prison camp. After the film’s release, some American critics accused Beresford of being anti-Japanese and argued that these things were best forgotten, but Beresford insisted that the story needed to be told. He tried to play down the atrocities and to portray events as he believed they had happened.
Encountering Conflict in Paradise Road
Paradise Road explores ideas about conflict and examines the many ways in which people encounter conflict. For example: • The historical setting of the film is the global conflict of World War II. • This conflict is a military one, fuelled by political conflicts which, in 1939, finally erupted into the violent conflict of global warfare. • The geographical setting is the tropical island of Sumatra, where the prisoners
1 © Insight Publications 2010
Article on Paradise Road
Area of Study 2 Context: Encountering Conflict
Article by Sue Sherman PARADISE ROAD Directed by Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford first gained wide critical success as director of Breaker Morant (1980), a landmark film about three Australian soldiers wrongfully executed for alleged war crimes during the Boer War. Like Breaker Morant, Paradise Road (1997) is based on a true story. Beresford again takes up the theme of Australians’ involvement in war – this time during World War II. This film, however, is not about the exploits of soldiers; it’s about the resilience of women prisoners of war. Beresford researched the story extensively, studying the diaries of prisoners and Japanese historical material to understand the events from both points of view. On The Movie Show (http://www.sbs.com.au/films/movie/3156/Paradise/Road) in June 1997, Beresford explained that there were many ‘prison camp’ films about the heroism of men. What he wanted to convey in Paradise Road was the heroism and resourcefulness of women, and he wanted also to celebrate their ability to create beauty in the dreadful conditions of the jungle prison camp. After the film’s release, some American critics accused Beresford of being anti-Japanese and argued that these things were best forgotten, but Beresford insisted that the story needed to be told. He tried to play down the atrocities and to portray events as he believed they had happened.
Encountering Conflict in Paradise Road
Paradise Road explores ideas about conflict and examines the many ways in which people encounter conflict. For example: • The historical setting of the film is the global conflict of World War II. • This conflict is a military one, fuelled by political conflicts which, in 1939, finally erupted into the violent conflict of global warfare. • The geographical setting is the tropical island of Sumatra, where the prisoners
1 © Insight Publications 2010
Article on Paradise Road