Contents



Innocence Never Lasts Forever

2000



The Beach (2000)

Directed by 
Danny Boyle    
  
Writing credits 
Alex Garland   (novel) 

 
John Hodge (I)   (screenplay) 
  
Cast (in credits order) 
Leonardo DiCaprio ....  Richard  
Tilda Swinton ....  Sal  
Virginie Ledoyen ....  Françoise  
Guillaume Canet ....  Étienne  
Robert Carlyle ....  Daffy  
Paterson Joseph ....  Keaty  
Lars Arentz-Hansen ....  Bugs  
Daniel York ....  Hustler  
Patcharawan Patarakijjanon ....  Hotel receptionist  
Somboon Phutaroth ....  Cleaning woman  
Weeratham 'Norman' Wichairaksakui ....  Detective  
Jak Boon ....  Travel agent  
Peter Youngblood Hills ....  Zeph  
Jerry Swindall ....  Sammy  
Krongthong Thampradith ....  Woman with key  
Abhijati 'Meuk' Jusakul ....  Senior farmer  
Sanya 'Gai' Cheunjit ....  Farmer  
Kaneung 'Nueng' Kenia ....  Farmer  
Somchai Santitarangkul ....  Farmer  
Kawee 'Seng' Sirikanerat ....  Farmer  
Somkuan 'Kuan' Siroon ....  Farmer  
Zelda Tinska ....  Sonja  
Victoria Smurfit ....  Weather Girl  
Daniel Caltagirone ....  Unhygenix  
Peter Gevisser ....  Gregorio  
Lidia Zovkic ....  Mirjana  
Samuel Gough ....  Guitar Man  
Staffan Kihlbom ....  Christo  
Jukka Hiltunen ....  Karl  
Magnus Lindgren ....  Sten  
Myriam Acharki ....  Beach Community Member  
Andrew Carmichael ....  Beach Community Member  
Josh Cole ....  Beach Community Member  
Hélène de Fougerolles ....  Beach Community Member  
Bindu De Stoppani ....  Beach Community Member  
Stacy Hart ....  Beach Community Member  
Nina Jacques ....  Beach Community Member  
Sheridan Jones ....  Beach Community Member  
Gunilla Karlson ....  Beach Community Member  
Sian Martin ....  Beach Community Member  
Isabella Seibert ....  Beach Community Member  
Elizabeth Thomas ....  Beach Community Member  
Michael R. Thorpe ....  Beach Community Member  
Timothy Webster ....  Beach Community Member  
Ramon Woolfe ....  Beach Community Member  
Jamie Edgell ....  Beach Community Member  
Saskia Mulder ....  Hilda  
Simone Huber ....  Eva  
  
Produced by 
Andrew Macdonald (I)    
Callum McDougall   (co-producer)  
  
Original music by 
Angelo Badalamenti    
  
Cinematography by 
Darius Khondji    
  
Film Editing by 
Masahiro Hirakubo    
  
Casting 
Kate Dowd    
Srimonjui 'Non' Raweeporn    
Gail Stevens    
  
Production Design by 
Andrew McAlpine    
  
Art Direction 
Ricky Eyres    
Suchartanun 'Kai' Kuladee    
Rod McLean    
Ben Scott (II)    
  
Set Decoration 
Anna Pinnock    
  
Costume Design by 
Rachael Fleming    
  
Makeup Department 
Mark Coulier ....  special makeup designer  
Sallie Jaye ....  key hair stylist
key makeup artist  
  
Production Management 
Jo Burn ....  unit production manager  
Piya Pestonji ....  unit production manager  
  
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director 
Ussawadee 'Moo Dang' Eamsakul ....  assistant director  
Nick Heckstall-Smith ....  assistant director  
Andrea Slater ....  third assistant director  
Richard Styles (I) ....  assistant director  
Charlie Sungkawess ....  assistant director: Thailand  
George Walker (V) ....  assistant director  
  
Sound Department 
Glenn Freemantle ....  supervising sound editor  
Peter Lindsay (II) ....  production sound mixer  
  
Special Effects 
Richard Clarke (V) ....  3D designer: CFC  
Dayne Cowan ....  3D designer: CFC  
Adrian De Wet ....  digital effects designer: CFC  
Luke Drummond ....  video to film editorial: CFC  
Richard Ducker ....  3D designer: FrameStore  
Robert Duncan (III) ....  digital effects supervisor: CFC  
Ian Fellows ....  digital paint artist: CFC  
Adam Glasman ....  scanning and recording operator: CFC  
Dan Glass ....  digital effects designer: CFC  
Sally Goldberg ....  3D designer: CFC  
Ruth Greenberg ....  digital effects coordinator: CFC  
Darrell Griffin ....  studio manager: CFC  
Jan Hogevold ....  scanning and recording producer: CFC  
Daren Horley ....  3D designer: FrameStore  
Drew Jones ....  digital effects producer: CFC  
Matt Kasmir ....  video to film operator: CFC  
Alec Knox ....  3D designer: FrameStore  
Siobhan Lo ....  digital paint artist: CFC  
David Marsh (II) ....  technical director: FrameStore  
Justin Martin (II) ....  3D designer: CFC  
Chris Monks ....  3D designer: CFC  
Stephen Murphy ....  3D designer: CFC  
Mark Nettleton ....  digital effects designer: CFC  
Tim Osborne ....  video compositor: FrameStore  
Dominic Parker ....  head of 3D: CFC  
Alex Payman ....  digital paint artist: CFC  
Carlos M. Rosas ....  3D designer: FrameStore  
Geraldine Swayne ....  video to film operator: CFC  
Kat Szuminska ....  digital effects designer: CFC  
Jon Thum ....  digital effects designer: CFC  
Steve Tizzard ....  scanning and recording operator: CFC  
Gavin Toomey ....  digital effects designer: CFC  
  
Stunts 
Marc Boyle ....  stunt co-ordinator  
  
Other crew 
David Balfour ....  property master  
Bob Bridges ....  video playback operator  
Robin Brigham ....  electrician  
Judy Britten ....  production co-ordinator  
Robin Heinson ....  painter  
Virginia Murray ....  production assistant  
Giles Nuttgens ....  camera operator: second unit  
Pippa Rawlinson ....  assistant art director  
Alex Scott (V) ....  gaffer  
Mike Valentine ....  underwater camera  
Steven J. Winslow ....  camera technician
assistant camera: Wescam camera  
  

 

THE BEACH
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****):  ** 1/2

THE BEACH, directed by Danny Boyle (TRAINSPOTTING), is an entertaining, but not especially original, adventure yarn. The film works as a star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio, but the rest of the casting is singularly uninspired. The easy to cast role of the alluringly gorgeous French woman, for example, is given to Virginie Ledoyen, who looks and acts particularly bland. Still, as a travelogue from Hell, the picture does have its charms.

John Hodge's script, based on Alex Garland's popular novel, suffers from seeming little more than an amalgamation of a dozen other films from THE LORD OF THE FLIES to AN APOCALYPSE NOW. Even at its most enjoyable, the film loses a certain amount of credibility from the sense of déjà vu that it evokes. If it were better than some of the movies that it imitates, this might not be a problem, but there isn't a scene which isn't stronger in the original.

The story can be dichotomized into Paradise Found and Paradise Lost. In the first, Richard (DiCaprio) learns of a mysterious Thai island with a killer beach. Told of its existence by a crazed doper, appropriately named Daffy (Robert Carlyle, TRAINSPOTTING), Richard retrieves Daffy's map to the place after he discovers him dead in a blood-splattered room.

Lusting after Françoise (Ledoyen), his next-door neighbor in his fleabag hotel, Richard invites her to join him in his trip to the Utopian beach. The problem is that he has to take her boyfriend, Étienne (Guillaume Canet), along. "We were headed for the great unknown, but, to get there, you had to follow the regular tourist trail," Richard tells us of their journey to their idyllic island.

When they get to the island, they find it inhabited by Uzi-carrying "farmers," who guard their vast fields of marijuana. Most people would beat a hasty retreat at this point, but not our hedonists. Go ahead, imagine your dream beach. Would you be willing to risk your life to get to it?

Well, they do and stumble upon a commune on the other side of the island in the process. Run by a tough-as-nails, cultish leader, Sal (Tilda Swinton), the commune somewhat reluctantly lets them stay.

Now, be honest, don't you think you can guess the rest of the movie? Well, you can. Think Françoise will fall for Richard? Well, duh, he's played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Think that the commune's peaceful coexistence with the dope growers will last? See, you could have written the screenplay.

Some of Boyle's staging choices are particularly surprising. He depicts a gory land in which everything from sharks to gun-toting men can cause blood to fly and skin to be ripped open. On the other hand, he gives us probably the only ultra-remote beach on the planet in which the women never go topless. And the star is French no less.

Richard's rich narration is one of the film's chief allures along with its gorgeous scenery and dreamy music. "I found that love, like grief, tends to fade away and be replaced by something more exciting," he remarks at the start of his descent into madness.

"In the perfect beach resort, nothing is allowed to interrupt the pursuit of pleasure, not even dying," Richard tells us. Sal certainly doesn't want anything to spoil her clan's fun. She'll do whatever it takes to keep the good times rolling.

The movie, which does have its pleasures, could have been so much better if they hadn't blown their bankroll on DiCaprio. His performance is good, but not strong enough to carry the entire picture.

THE BEACH runs 1:58. It is rated R for strong violence, some strong sexuality, language and drug content. It would be acceptable for older teenagers.

Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com




Have I seen this movie: No
Will I see It: Yes
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