BEACH, THE (director: Danny Boyle; screenwriters: from a novel by Alex Garland/John Hodge; cinematographer: Darius Khondji; editor: Masahiro Hirakubo; cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (Richard), Tilda Swinton (Sal), Virginie Ledoyen (Francoise), Guillaume Canet (Etienne), Paterson Joseph (Keaty), Robert Carlyle (Daffy), Lars Arentz-Hansen(Bugs), PeterYoungblood Hills (Zeph), Jerry Swindall (Sammy); Runtime: 120; 20th Century-Fox; 2000)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A shallow coming-of-age film about an American tourist named Richard (DiCaprio), seeking adventure in an non touristy way, who travels to exotic Thailand to do his thing by finding something tangible to fill the void in his life. Something that is more real than the computer games he is hooked on. His adventure begins when he meets a Looney Tunes character named Daffy (Carlyle) in his second-class hotel and hears the monstrous looking lunatic rant about the perfect beach that is not found on the regular map and difficult to get to, as Daffy imparts a few well chosen words to Richard, who takes it all in, as if trying to show that he's not the twit that he really is and is open to new experiences. The next morning Daffy blows his brains out, but leaves the secret map of this paradise nailed to his door. Not wanting to go there alone and attracted to the French girl Francoise (Virginie Ledoyen) who is staying next-door with her boyfriend Etienne (Guilluame Canet), he impulsively entices them to join him in this adventure.
The three backpackers, all in their 20s, reach an island close by their destination and stopover for the night. For some inexplicable reason, Richard blabs about this secret island to some fellow American dopers (Peter Youngblood Hills and Jerry Swindall), telling them his plans and even leaves them a copy of the map. Then he swims to the off the beaten path island with the French couple. But Paradise has some immediate problems in it, as they observe the island's beauty and pass through fields of marijuana that are guarded by unsavory farmers with AK-47s and machetes. Sneaking by them, they jump off the mountain side and swim to their destination -- finding there a passive, pagan-like commune of pleasure seekers who have lived by the beautiful beach for a few years, granted permission to stay by the marijuana farmers if they bring no more people into their commune.
The leader of the island, a British girl named Sal (Tilda Swinton), who is a true believer in the cause of seeking pleasure at any cost, even if it means she rules the place like a benevolent tyrant or a well-meaning mother who administers tough love. She lays down the rules to the newcomers and they can either accept it or get off her island, which is home to an international group of idlers.
The film can't seem to be told without the voiceover from Leonardo DiCaprio, explaining his thought process and what's going on.
There are a bunch of other nondescript yuppie/hippie inhabitants on this island, but the only other one who stands out, is black Britisher, Keaty (Paterson Joseph), who is gay and is a sports fanatic. Bugs (Lars Arentz-Hansen) is the only one on the island whom Richard doesn't like and he is also the sometimes boyfriend of Sal.
As expected, the French girl falls for Richard and her boyfriend gracefully bows out. He seemed like a much nicer bloke than Richard...but such is life! The communal lovers of the beach spend their time on mandatory fishing assignments, smoking weed, fornicating, and taking in the sun. When their rice gets contaminated, Richard is chosen by the leader to go to the mainland with her, where she seduces him and where she learns that Richard told others about the island. They make a pact not to tell the others about their sex and about the Americans who know about their secret place, but Richard fails to tell her that he also gave them the map.
The beach is the real star of the film, as the cinematography of it is scintillating. It is as if a real paradise was found off the Thai coast. The film itself wasn't a bad film, as much as it was an empty one. There is just very little to digest here. The slight story is a predictable one, as the drug-dealing farmers mean business, so when Richard's four unwanted acquaintances arrive, we know what response to expect from the farmers. When the French girl learns of what Sal and Richard did on the mainland, we know what her reaction will be. The film winds down with Richard banished from the commune to live in the jungle and his assignment is to take the map away from the newcomers, as he takes on this assignment by going into a VietCong mode, playing it as if it is a video game on war. It made for some beautiful fantasy shots via computer graphics, but added nothing to the film's story.
The film concludes as a lesson that there is no such thing as a paradise on earth, and if there were, it wouldn't remain one for long because man's desires are far-reaching. So it's back to virtual reality for the DiCaprio character, after all, the theme of the film seems to imply, maybe that's not so bad a thing to be doing with your life.
The film was adapted from the 27-year-old Britisher, Alex Garland's very popular novel. In an interview he gave for cable TV, he said he didn't mind that this Hollywood film took some liberties with his story to juice it up sexually so we can see Leonardo romance the beautiful Virginie Ledoyen and have another affair with Tilda Swinton, additions that were not part of the novel.
The photography of that underwater kiss with Ledoyen was sensational, as they were lit up like Christmas trees from the opalescent plant life that surrounded them. The romance itself had no sparkles in it. Overrated director, Danny Boyle ("A Life Less Ordinary"/ "Trainspotting"/"Shallow Grave"), is skilled at working his magic on films that are basically insubstantial by relying on non-narrative things to do the job, such as the energy from the actors and the beauty in his visual sets. Here, he is aided by the wonderfully gifted cinematographer, Darius Khondji, who makes The Beach look like a cross between the figment of one's psychedelic dream and an ongoing computer game, something you can't take your eyes off. It was just too bad that the story didn't have more weight to it, or should I say some weight to it, because this film played mostly like a travelogue. Don't blame the actors for what went wrong here, they did their job the best they could. The fault is all in the script.
REVIEWED ON 3/12/2001 GRADE: C
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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