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Paradise (1982 film)
Encyclopedia
Paradise is a 1982 English language romance
and adventure film
starring Phoebe Cates
and Willie Aames
, written and directed by Stuart Gillard
. The original music score was composed by Paul Hoffert
with the theme song sung by Phoebe Cates.
It was critiqued at the time as a "knockoff" of the more-famous The Blue Lagoon
(1980). The film was marketed with "If Only It Could Have Been Forever...Paradise...No Two People Have Ever Come So Close."
The films' themes were similar: Two young people find themselves abandoned in a world with no adult supervision, in fact no other people anywhere. Thus they have total freedom, inevitably learning all about love and reproduction, as well as basic survival techniques.
Leonard Maltin
's annual Movie Guide book describes it this way: "Rating: star and a half. Silly Blue Lagoon ripoff, with Aames and Cates discovering sex while stranded in the desert. Both, however, do look good sans clothes." Upon its release, when reviewed on the show Sneak Previews
, Roger Ebert
selected it as his Dog of the Week, the worst film he saw that week and heavily berated it.
, David (Aames) and Sarah (Cates), two teenagers, travel with a caravan
from Baghdad
to Damascus
. At an oasis
, the white slave agent 'Jackal' raids them, mainly to add the beautiful young Sarah to his harem
of mistresses. David and Sarah and her manservant, Geoffrey narrowly escape, but all the others are slain in the massacre including David's American missionary parents. However, Geoffrey doesn't survive long, as he sees an encampment that, unbeknownst to Geoffrey, is run by the Jackal. Geoffrey goes to the encampment seeking help but is killed by the Jackal as the remaining duo takes a rest in a nearby enclave on their westerly direction toward civilization.
Sarah and David's flight leads them to a beautiful oasis—their peaceful place in paradise—where they discover natural love and their sexuality. However, the Jackal has not given up on Sarah yet, and David must lure him to his death, or be killed by him.
In the film's ending, David confronts the Jackal and is able to kill him. Sarah reveals to David that she is pregnant and the two young lovers have finally reached civilization, the city of Damascus.
such as Tel Aviv
as well as the Dead Sea
and Sea of Galilee
.
During production, Aames and Cates both decided that the film did not need as much nudity as the script required. In an interview, Aames claimed that "the producer (Lantos) went back to Canada and used somebody else in the shots. They weren't in the version of the film they showed us for approval. When I finally got to see the final print months later, I flipped." Lantos responded to this by saying that it was up to himself and the distributor to decide on how the final print would be, not up to any of the actors. He furthermore claimed that "99% of it was what Willie and Phoebe shot."
Nevertheless, Aames agreed to promote the film, because he admitted that "aside from those parts that bother me, it's a damn good film." Cates felt differently, and refused to have anything to do with the promotion. According to Aames, Cates was "really upset" by the film.
's 2010 Movie Guide, p.1050: "Silly Blue Lagoon
rip-off, with Aames and Cates discovering sex while stranded in the desert. Both, however, do look good sans clothes."
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
and adventure film
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
starring Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
and Willie Aames
Willie Aames
Willie Aames is an American actor, film and television director, television producer, and screenwriter. He played Tommy Bradford on the 1970s’ Eight Is Enough and Buddy Lembeck on the 1980s’ Charles in Charge.-Early life:...
, written and directed by Stuart Gillard
Stuart Gillard
Stuart Gillard is a Canadian film and television director. He is most notably known for directing RocketMan in 1997.He also wrote and directed the romance film Paradise in 1982....
. The original music score was composed by Paul Hoffert
Paul Hoffert
Paul Matthew Hoffert, CM is a recording artist, performer, media music composer, author, academic, and corporate executive. He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Toronto. He later studied music composition with Samuel Dolin and music theory with Gordon Delamont...
with the theme song sung by Phoebe Cates.
It was critiqued at the time as a "knockoff" of the more-famous The Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon (1980 film)
The Blue Lagoon is a 1980 American romance and adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser. The screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart was based on the novel The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The film stars Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins...
(1980). The film was marketed with "If Only It Could Have Been Forever...Paradise...No Two People Have Ever Come So Close."
The films' themes were similar: Two young people find themselves abandoned in a world with no adult supervision, in fact no other people anywhere. Thus they have total freedom, inevitably learning all about love and reproduction, as well as basic survival techniques.
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
's annual Movie Guide book describes it this way: "Rating: star and a half. Silly Blue Lagoon ripoff, with Aames and Cates discovering sex while stranded in the desert. Both, however, do look good sans clothes." Upon its release, when reviewed on the show Sneak Previews
Sneak Previews
Sneak Previews was an American film review show, running for over two decades on Public Broadcasting Service . It was created by WTTW, a PBS affiliate in Chicago, Illinois. It premiered on September 4, 1975 as a monthly local-only show called Opening Soon at a Theater Near You, and was renamed in...
, Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
selected it as his Dog of the Week, the worst film he saw that week and heavily berated it.
Plot summary
In the Victorian periodVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, David (Aames) and Sarah (Cates), two teenagers, travel with a caravan
Caravan (travellers)
A caravan is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defence against bandits as well as helped to improve economies of scale in trade.In historical times, caravans...
from Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
to Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
. At an oasis
Oasis
In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
, the white slave agent 'Jackal' raids them, mainly to add the beautiful young Sarah to his harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
of mistresses. David and Sarah and her manservant, Geoffrey narrowly escape, but all the others are slain in the massacre including David's American missionary parents. However, Geoffrey doesn't survive long, as he sees an encampment that, unbeknownst to Geoffrey, is run by the Jackal. Geoffrey goes to the encampment seeking help but is killed by the Jackal as the remaining duo takes a rest in a nearby enclave on their westerly direction toward civilization.
In the film's ending, David confronts the Jackal and is able to kill him. Sarah reveals to David that she is pregnant and the two young lovers have finally reached civilization, the city of Damascus.
Main cast
- Phoebe CatesPhoebe CatesPhoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
– Sarah - Willie AamesWillie AamesWillie Aames is an American actor, film and television director, television producer, and screenwriter. He played Tommy Bradford on the 1970s’ Eight Is Enough and Buddy Lembeck on the 1980s’ Charles in Charge.-Early life:...
– David - Tuvia Tavi – The Jackal
- Richard Curnock – Geoffrey
- Neil VipondNeil VipondNeil Vipond is a stage, television, and film actor. Best known as "Julius" the piano player on the hit TV series Will & Grace, Neil Vipond has also guest-starred in Medium, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.He played "Grover Shively" in Endpapers , a play by...
– Reverend - Aviva Marks – Rachel
- Joseph Shiloach – Ahmed
- Jerry Rosen – Jackals Bodyguard
- Riki Halfon – Belly Dancer
- Shoshana Duer – Bedouin Woman
Production
Producers of the film, Robert Lantos and Stephen J. Roth first selected Aames and later after a screen test agreed on Cates for the role of Sarah. The film marks Cates' motion picture debut that followed her modeling career. Cates was also selected for the production of the film to sing the movie's theme song. The film was shot on location at various settings in IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
such as Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
as well as the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
and Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...
.
During production, Aames and Cates both decided that the film did not need as much nudity as the script required. In an interview, Aames claimed that "the producer (Lantos) went back to Canada and used somebody else in the shots. They weren't in the version of the film they showed us for approval. When I finally got to see the final print months later, I flipped." Lantos responded to this by saying that it was up to himself and the distributor to decide on how the final print would be, not up to any of the actors. He furthermore claimed that "99% of it was what Willie and Phoebe shot."
Nevertheless, Aames agreed to promote the film, because he admitted that "aside from those parts that bother me, it's a damn good film." Cates felt differently, and refused to have anything to do with the promotion. According to Aames, Cates was "really upset" by the film.
Nominations
Golden Raspberry AwardsGolden Raspberry Awards
A Golden Raspberry Award, or Razzie for short, is an award presented in recognition of the worst in movies. Founded by American copywriter and publicist John J.B. Wilson in 1981, the annual Razzie Awards ceremony in Los Angeles precedes the corresponding Academy Awards ceremony by one day...
- Nominated: Worst Actor (Willie AamesWillie AamesWillie Aames is an American actor, film and television director, television producer, and screenwriter. He played Tommy Bradford on the 1970s’ Eight Is Enough and Buddy Lembeck on the 1980s’ Charles in Charge.-Early life:...
)
Reception
From Leonard MaltinLeonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
's 2010 Movie Guide, p.1050: "Silly Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon (1980 film)
The Blue Lagoon is a 1980 American romance and adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser. The screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart was based on the novel The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The film stars Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins...
rip-off, with Aames and Cates discovering sex while stranded in the desert. Both, however, do look good sans clothes."
See also
- The Blue LagoonThe Blue Lagoon (1980 film)The Blue Lagoon is a 1980 American romance and adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser. The screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart was based on the novel The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The film stars Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins...
, 1980 version - Return to the Blue LagoonReturn to the Blue LagoonReturn to the Blue Lagoon is a 1991 American romance and adventure film starring Milla Jovovich and Brian Krause, produced and directed by William A. Graham. The screenplay by Leslie Stevens was based on the novel The Garden of God by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The original music score was composed...