I thought this was an Australian film, about Australians, in Australia. Imagine my horror when it was instead about horrific treatment of Allied prisoners by the Japanese in Malaysia during WWII.
The film is relentless -- brutal even -- especially as it involved women and children for the bulk of the film. It never seems to end ... until the very end, when the godawful war ends and things get a bit better -- OK, quite a bit better.
Virginia McKenna gives a lovely, wonderful performance as the protagonist, and quite holds the film together. Also featuring Peter Finch, and a number of other fine performances, including the wonderful Japanese sergeant in charge of the women and children.
Worth a watch. Perhaps it's best summarized as being a good tale of survival.
However, the film has two flaws: One is, that the basic plot point, which the film spends 80% of its time on, never happened, even though the film announces that it is fact-based in the opening credits. The plot line the film relies on was a complete misapprehension by author Nevil Shute.
The second problem the film has is that it only covers half of the book -- the horrific, unrealistic half.
All in all, I'd say that if you want a realistic portrayal of Allied prisoners of war in Malaysia by the Japenese during WWII, watch King Rat (1965), a much better film.
The film is relentless -- brutal even -- especially as it involved women and children for the bulk of the film. It never seems to end ... until the very end, when the godawful war ends and things get a bit better -- OK, quite a bit better.
Virginia McKenna gives a lovely, wonderful performance as the protagonist, and quite holds the film together. Also featuring Peter Finch, and a number of other fine performances, including the wonderful Japanese sergeant in charge of the women and children.
Worth a watch. Perhaps it's best summarized as being a good tale of survival.
However, the film has two flaws: One is, that the basic plot point, which the film spends 80% of its time on, never happened, even though the film announces that it is fact-based in the opening credits. The plot line the film relies on was a complete misapprehension by author Nevil Shute.
The second problem the film has is that it only covers half of the book -- the horrific, unrealistic half.
All in all, I'd say that if you want a realistic portrayal of Allied prisoners of war in Malaysia by the Japenese during WWII, watch King Rat (1965), a much better film.