toward a village on the island while the nurses remained on the beach to care for the men's wounds. When the Japanese discovered them, the men were rounded up and twenty-two of the nurses were forced back into the water where they were shot by the soldiers. Only Vivian Bullwinkel survived after the soldiers opened fire. Bullwinkel later found the rest of the nurses that survived the sinking of the ship. The women were transferred from Banka Island to Sumatra. Some survived the multiple voyages back and forth between the islands for three and a half years. The women were living in the Sumatra prison camp when the war ended and a rescue came for the survivors. Reception On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 43% approval rating, based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. On Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. The film opened 11 April 1997 on 9 screens in the United States and Canada and grossed $62,518 for the weekend. It went on to gross $2,007,100. It opened in Australia on 5 June 1997 on 85 screens and grossed $692,788 for the week, placing fifth at the Australian box office. It went on to gross A$2,970,653. See also Tenko Cinema of Australia References Bibliography Milliken, Sue Selective Memory: My Life in Film External links Paradise Road at the National Film and Sound Archive New York Times review Roger Ebert review Paradise Road at Oz Movies 1997 films Pacific War films World War II prisoner of war films Australian drama films Fox Searchlight Pictures films Films directed by Bruce Beresford War films based on actual events Films set in Indonesia 1997 drama films Women in prison films Japan in non-Japanese culture