The Beach
by Danny Boyle
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Guillaume Canet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Carlyle, Tilda Swinton, Virginie LedoyenDirector: Danny Boyle
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Serbo-Croatian (Original Language); Swedish (Original Language); Thai (Original Language)
Format: NTSC
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-07-25
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of The Beach
Movie Review: High diving, Dreams and Demons in the Land Beyond
Summary: 5 Stars
In Danny Boyle's masterpiece, the young wanderer finds that the Community he once found so enthralling and unique survives as artifact even if not as a tangible, living entity in itself.
The Beach is a classic road film. instead of shoe-leather (as in The Wizard of Oz), horses, bikes (Easy Rider), trains or cars, the mode of travel for the fellow travelers is paddle boat, high-diving (jumping) and swimming in the lovely wilderness of Thailand. With apparent homage to the classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel (Grimm), The young people are greeted, upon reaching an expansive field of marijuana, by farmers whose livilihoods are at stake and who are not in a good mood to see the new tourists; strangely, Richard himself, after living in the idyllic commune for some time, abhors the sight of civilization on the shopping trip to the mainland.
Be that as it may, he has learned--vis-a-vis the seemingly endless list of shopping requests from fellow communards, that the city is sometimes a necessary evil. The pristine Thai wonderland community that Richard (Leonardo diCaprio) and French fellow travelers Fran?oise (Virginie LeDoyen) and Etienne (Guillaume Canet) discover is flawed by misguided, increasingly dehumanized leadership in the form of Sal (impeccably portrayed by Tilda Swinton). Sal's confrontation with the farmers is strong; one begins to witness the absurdity of boundaries and nearly mourn for lost, wasted possibilities for sharing the world and its resources. Yet we also sympathize on some level with those who were here first and cannot help but wonder at the growers' plight as well as that of the young "tourists."
There are echoes of Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1978), as Richard begins to go somewhat insane after Sal orders him to "turn back" the new arrivals--young people, Europeans and Americans like themselves, on an adventure hunt with the copied map left by Richard.
Richard becomes a leader himself after these experiences on the beach, but the genius of director Danny Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge (the same incredible team that created Trainspotting) conveys the notion that true heroism sometimes involves the opposite of leaping bravely into the unknown. Fran?oise's photograph survives, and becomes artifact.
It passes into the historical consciousness of the film's heroes. In the final analysis, the Community is neither all evil nor a flawless paradise. It is, rather, a human experience that at moment of Richard's life is met bravely and with idealism, savored, confronted, left behind and finally, cherished.
Note: The film includes an incredibly astute cameo performance by Robert Carlyle (of Trainspotting fame).
Summary of The Beach
"Leonardo DiCaprio is electrifying" (David Sheehan, CBS-TV) in this adrenaline-drenched, tantalizingly seductive thriller from the director of "Trainspotting." Richard (DiCaprio), a young American backpacker, is willing to risk his life for just one thing: that mind-blowing rush you can only get from braving the ultimate adventure. But on a secret, deceptively perfect beach, Richard will discover that "heaven on earth" can instantly change into a jungle of seduction and danger. Co-starring sexy newcomer Virginie Ledoyen, this "journey to the unexpected, full of surprises, twists and turns, love and romance, lust and desire" (Maria Sallas, GEMS) explores the hidden perils and dark places that lurk just beyond the shores of paradise.Leonardo DiCaprio sought to distance himself from the purity of his character in Titanic, and his role in The Beach is in many ways a polar opposite. As Richard, a young American seeking to "suck in the experience" of freestyle travel in Thailand, he's a chronic liar, a pot-smoking hedonist, an amoral lover, and ultimately an unstable snake in a doomed Garden of Eden. This crazy descent might be expected from the filmmakers of Trainspotting, but The Beach is a movie without a rudder, venturing into fascinating territory, promising a stimulating adventure, and then careening out of control.
After receiving a not-so-secret map to a secluded island from a stoned-out loony (Robert Carlyle, full of dark portent and spittle), Richard sets out to find the hidden paradise with a young French couple (Virginie Ledoyen, Guillaume Canet). What they find is a tropical commune existing in delicate balance with Thai pot farmers, and before long--as always--there's trouble in paradise. There's trouble in the movie, too, as DiCaprio is reduced to histrionics when the plot turns into a muddled mix of Lord of the Flies and Apocalypse Now, with shark attacks tossed in for shallow tension. Director Danny Boyle attempts perfunctory romance and a few audacious moves (notably DiCaprio's vision of life as a violent video game), but what's the point? Tilda Swinton registers strongly as the commune's charismatic leader, but her character--and the entire film--remains largely undeveloped, and pretty scenery is no guarantee of a laudable film. --Jeff Shannon
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