- Title: AUSTRALIA: ON LOCATION WITH THE CAST OF 'PARADISE ROAD'
- Date: 22nd July 1995
- Summary: CHOIR DIRECTOR LENNIE VAN SHIEK WARMING UP ACTORS, CHOIR SINGING VARIOUS OF CHOIR SINGING, JENNIFER EHLE AND ELIZABETH SPRIGGS AMONG THEM
- Embargoed: 6th August 1995 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PORT DOUGLAS, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVAE5I5R9G0FNFBUAWXWJISBLYIY
- Story Text: Australian director Bruce Beresford has returned to his native land to make his first Australian movie for many years and he says it was the power of the story of Paradise Road which lured him home.
Beresford, best known for directing Academy Award-nominated "Breaker Morant" and "Driving Miss Daisy", brings together a host of female stars for the film which tells the story of female heroism during World War II.
Glenn Close, Pauline Collins, Jennifer Ehle and Julianna Margulies star in the film which tells how a group of women form a vocal orchestra to survive in a Japanese prison camp.
Beresford wrote the screenplay and directs the movie which is due to be premiered in Singapore at the end of the year. Worldwide release is scheduled next year through Twentieth Century Fox/ Village Roadshow Pictures.
Beresford said filming had been tricky as the 20 million US dollar-movie was on such a grand scale. He said an Australian location had to be found which looked like Sumatra, where the prison camp was situated, and then the camp built.
During the cours of his research, Beresford went to Harlem in Holland where a Dutch choir was using original recordings of the women's camp choir. He said he convinced the choir director Lennie Van Shiek to be part of the filming and she trained and conducted the actors for"Paradise Road".
The film is a result of extensive research by Beresford and his team who studied diaries and heard recollections from the real camp survivors.
Actress Pauline Collins ("Shirley Valentine") plays the missionary Miss Drummond who forms the choir and provides spiritual strength for the women.
Speaking on the set, Collins said it was the spirit of the script which attracted her to the production. She said formation of a choir was magical within the horror of the camp. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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