Verlorenes Paradies

Perhaps not the "masterpiece" claimed in the plot summary, but I was prompted to view it courtesy of Youtube, having just re-read the book.

The IMDb cast list is in alphabetical order, and the leading parts are played by Jason Connery (son of Sean), Vivien Tan (apparently in her only acting role), Josephine Byrnes and Richard Wilson.

The first three episodes of the TV series, drawing on some 400 of the 623 pages of Noel Barber's book, cover the Second World War period, introducing a theme of anti-Britishness among some islanders that, Mana excepted, was not in the original.

The final episode departs almost entirely from the novel, and covers the evacuation of nearly all the Europeans in anticipation of a Japanese invasion and includes some unconvincing schoolboy-type rescue heroics.

The conclusion features some emotional hand-wringing and a romantic happy ending - though I was left wondering what happened on the island for the rest of the war.

The settings were great, the photography good, the acting average. The prurient may wish to note that the island girls are covered up, unlike in the novel.