This is an interesting, although somewhat harrowing, look at a group of Australians put under extraordinary pressure by their experiences in wartime.
Based on a true story, the film looks at two young Australian women, Lorna Whyte, one of a group of about a dozen nurses left behind when the Australian army withdrew in the face of the Japanese advance, and Sister Bernice, a Catholic nun at a German mission on the island. Like most films about Japanese prison camps, there are distressing scenes of cruelty and brutality, but most of the Japanese soldiers behave professionally most of the time, and some are even shown to behave more humanely.
Snook is very good as Lorna, and won the AFI Award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama, while van der Bloom won the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actress. Overall, this is a moving account of the extreme events of the war, and you can't help but be filled with admiration for what these women went through.
