In Paradise Road the vocal orchestra strengthens the community and brings the different nationalities together. Before the establishment of the choir, Bruce Beresford strategically emphasises racial differences, rivalry and racial tension. The choir helps to bridge differences and stimulates camaraderie among the women. Beresford shows that beauty, in this case singing, helps to nurture our finer qualities, our sensitivities and bring people together.
The choir also creates a bridge with the Japanese whereby many of the soldiers reveal suppressed moments of compassion that struggle to resurface. They feel instinctively unable to break up the vocal orchestra meetings and even XXXX guard sings in the forest to Adrienne revealing a rare glimpse of his humanity. Ironically, at this stage Adrienne fears for her life because she is alone, vulnerable and at the whim of her brutal oppressor in the forest. And yet, uncharacteristically he breaks into song, competing with the birds, and thereby reveals a rare vulnerability based on beauty and song.
- Many of the women inmates in the Japanese war camp in Sumatra also have a capacity to inspire and hope and this shows their determined spirit.
- They have the courage and audacity to hope and find some humanity in their oppressive situation.
- By establishing the vocal orchestra, Adrienne and Margaret become beacons of hope. They dare to nurture the human spirit despite the overwhelming depravity that surrounds them.
- They encourage other women to participate in the choir and the director shows that their mellifluous voices rise above the chilling brutality of the Japanese soldiers.
- Despite the clear act of provocation, the women are not deterred and the glimpses of beauty sustain them.
The director, Bruce Beresford, shows that the singing is so uplifting that it has the capacity to reach the most brutal people. Sargeant Tomiachi sings to Adrienne during a brief respite because he is anxious to show her that he is capable of some sensitivity. This appears incongruous because of ruthlessness and brutality.
Growth, change and character insights
Adrienne apologises to Margaret for her “snobbery”. In Singapore, she was contemptuous of missionaries because they appeared so self-righteous.
Ruth grows in stature and personally develops through hardship; she establishes a professional relationship with the Doctor who encourages her to pursue a medical career and confront her parents’ goals. She is “punished” for insubordination and has to withstand days kneeling in the sun.
Change of priorities: By telling her first lie, Sister Wilhelmina compromises her beliefs to protect Adrienna who is in danger of being charged and perhaps killed for insubordination after “assaulting” the guard who was trying to rape her at the toilet block.
Different degrees of corruption: the opportunistic streak in the German doctor
Those who maintain a pragmatic outlook, often have more chance of surviving. The Doctor’s belief is that during times of crisis, we all have to make some compromises, but we must evaluate which are more important than others and which will bring better rewards.
The Doctor seeks to maintain her impartiality in order to look after the sick inmates in the best way possible. She extracts their gold teeth to acquire medicine and favours for the inmates.
Whilst the Doctor has an opportunistic streak she keeps the interests of her inmates in mind. Sometimes people can turn the conflict to their advantage. During another crisis, people are much more opportunistic and self-searching. This can lead to benefits for ordinary people – often not according to the original intentions.
Similarly, the nun tells her first lie to the Colonel in order to defend Adrienne against the charge of insubordination and protect her from the death sentence. (Compare with Elizabeth Proctor.)
It is not always easy to maintain hope: survival dictates one’s choices
In turning their back on the orchestra and their friends, many women search for an easy solution or option and compromise their humanity. They are often defeated or destroyed by conflict because they lack strength or courage to withstand the oppression.
Some of the women choose to compromise their values and become prostitutes for the Japanese to survive. Such women attract the opprobrium (public disgrace) of their fellow inmates but realise that they lack the strength to live a life without some comfort. One of the woman inmates is obsessed with soap, water and cleanliness and for this reason accepts the offer of a more comfortable refuge.
They have to live with the shame.
Or was it just a means to survival?
It has also been documented by survivors that the Japanese offered a select group of women the opportunity to act as service-women for the officials. Not regarded as acceptable to most women before they entered the camp, some women felt that in their situation, the moral order had changed and therefore their values too underwent an alteration. Constrained and engulfed by conflict a minority of women compromised their dignity due to their basic need to survive. Shelving their values, the women, like victims of today’s society enter prostitution and servility, hoping to survive their battle to survive.
During such tense times people also become very suspicious and wary of each other. The inmates frequently suspect each other of betrayal because of their tenuous situation.
Difficult times breed insecurity and people often succumb to their worst nightmares.
Best Parallels with Paradise Road
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