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| A seemingly hypnotized, naked star Leonardo DiCaprio looks up from a sandy beach on this poster for Danny Boyle's The Beach |
A young American backpacker in Thailand comes across a map that shows the way to a secret island paradise. He follows the map with a young French couple, joining a young utopia on the isle, - but there are snakes in this paradise...
The Beach is written by John Hodge (A Life Less Ordinary (1997)), adapting the same-titled 1996 novel by Alex Garland (The Coma (2004)), and directed by Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave (1994)).
Boyle exhibits his very own kind of cynical naiveté and shallowness with The Beach, but in spite of this, it's a good film; because of its reverberating images, (great, Iranian cinematographer Darius Khondji (The Ninth Gate (1999)) transforms the striking locales into a visual feast); the steaming 1990s soundtrack and its archetypal story of the (young person's) Great Journey, which as so often before succeeds in drawing its audiences to it.
Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic (1997)) became even more of a heartthrob phenomenon through The Beach, and the posters were standard wall adornment in many teenagers' rooms in the years around its release, but it won't be remembered as one of his best performances.
Despite releasing in 2000, the film strikes me as very 1990s. The Beach already feels like it was made long time ago, but that is not meant as a criticism.
Related posts:
Danny Boyle: 127 Hours (2010) - Boyle and Franco get stuck with an inconsequential true story
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Sunshine (2007) - Boyle's great-looking, suspenseful sci-fi
28 Days Later (2002) or, Fast Zombies in England
2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Cost: 50 mil. $
Box office: 144 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 2.88 times its cost)
[The Beach premiered 2 February (USA) and runs 119 minutes. DiCaprio was paid 20 mil. $ for his performance. Shooting took place from January - April 1999 in Thailand, including in Bangkok, and in England, including in London. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Scream 3, to a 15..2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 39.7 mil. $ (27.6 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Boyle returned with Strumpet (2001, TV movie), Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise (2001, TV movie) and theatrically with 28 Days Later (2002). DiCaprio returned in Don's Plum (2001). The Beach is rotten at 23 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Beach?
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