Backbeat (1994)

Director:

Iain Softley

Writers:

Iain Softley
Michael Thomas
(more)

Release Date:

15 April 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

He Had To Choose Between His Best Friend... The Woman He Loved... And The Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band In the World.

Plot:

A dramatization of the Hamburg, Germany phase of the Beatles' early history.

Plot Keywords:

Stuart Sutcliffe | John Lennon | Germany | Friend | Rock 'n' Roll

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Sheryl Lee	...	Astrid Kirchherr
Stephen Dorff	...	Stuart Sutcliffe
Ian Hart	...	John Lennon
Gary Bakewell	...	Paul McCartney
Chris O'Neill	...	George Harrison
Scot Williams	...	Pete Best
Kai Wiesinger	...	Klaus Voormann
Jennifer Ehle	...	Cynthia Powell
Marcelle Duprey	...	Singer
John White	...	Sailor 1
Bernard Merrick	...	Sailor 2
Nicholas Tennant	...	Sailor 3
Finola Geraghty	...	Model
Rob Spendlove	...	Arthur Ballard
Charlie Caine	...	Lord Woodbine
Frieda Kelly	...	Mrs. Harrison
Paul Humpoletz	...	Bruno
Christiana Uriarte	...	Groupie
Abigail Wrapson	...	Groupie
Galit Hershkovitz	...	Groupie
Gertan Klauber	...	Pimp
Stephan Grothgar	...	Barman
Lynn Lowton	...	Hooker
Manuel Harlan	...	Johannes
Britta Gartner	...	Exis
Dirk Winkler	...	Exis
Wolf Kahler	...	Bert Kaempfert
James Doherty	...	Tony Sheridan
Paul Duckworth	...	Ringo Starr
Joerg Stadler	...	Policeman (as Joerg Stabler)
Alexei Jawdokimov	...	Napoleon
Albert Welling	...	Doctor

Directed by
Iain Softley

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Iain Softley
Michael Thomas
Stephen Ward

Produced by
Paul Cowan	....	line producer
Sarah Curtis	....	co-producer
Finola Dwyer	....	producer
Hanno Huth	....	executive producer
Nik Powell	....	executive producer
Stephen M. Williams	....	co-producer
Stephen Woolley	....	producer

Original Music by
Don Was

Cinematography by
Ian Wilson

Film Editing by
Martin Walsh

Casting by
Dianne Crittenden
John Hubbard
Ros Hubbard

Production Design by
Joseph Bennett

Art Direction by
Michael Carlin
Josef Plagge

Set Decoration by
Barbara Herman-Skelding

Costume Design by
Sheena Napier

Makeup Department
Richard Glass	....	contact lens optician
Pat Hay	....	makeup artist
Stephen Rose	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Sarah Lucraft	....	production manager: Hamburg

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul Gray	....	third assistant director: Hamburg
Jonathan Karlsen	....	crowd assistant director (as Jon Karlsen)
Cliff Lanning	....	second assistant director
Josh Robertson	....	third assistant director
Mary Soan	....	first assistant director

Art Department
David Bowes	....	art department assistant
Gordon Fitzgerald	....	property master
Andrew Garnett	....	scenic artist
Josh Jones	....	carpenter
Bill Stallion	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Nainita Desai	....	assistant sound editor
Peter Elliott	....	adr editor
Glenn Freemantle	....	supervising sound editor
Dominic Lester	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Nick Lowe	....	dialogue editor
Chris Munro	....	sound mixer
Chris Munro	....	sound recordist
Robin O'Donoghue	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steve Spencer	....	foley artist
Steve Spencer	....	foley editor

Special Effects by
Tim Baxter	....	optical effects

Visual Effects by
Ray Short	....	titles and opticals
Simon Dowling	....	main title designer (uncredited)
Tony Willis	....	effects cameraman (uncredited)

Stunts
Steve Griffin	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Alan Almond	....	camera operator: second unit
Kenny Byrne	....	focus puller
Pete Cavaciuti	....	steadicam operator
Norman Smith	....	gaffer
Mark Tillie	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Annie Crawford	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
David Barrett	....	assistant editor
Jim Heffernan	....	negative cutter
Daryl Jordan	....	first assistant editor
Scott Klein	....	master colorist

Music Department
Terence Blanchard	....	musician
David Richard Campbell	....	conductor: strings (as David Campbell)
David Richard Campbell	....	orchestrator: strings (as David Campbell)
Greg Dulli	....	singing voice: "John Lennon"
Don Fleming	....	musician: guitar and vocals
David Grohl	....	musician: drums (as Dave Grohl)
Bob Last	....	music supervisor
Mike Mills	....	musician: bass and vocals
Thurston Moore	....	musician: guitar
David Pirner	....	singing voice: "Paul McCartney"
Eric Reed	....	musician

Transportation Department
Dean Ward	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Jeff Bowen	....	location manager
Catherine Charlton	....	dialect coach: UK and Germany
Diana Dill	....	script supervisor
Simon Downes	....	floor runner
Polly Duval	....	assistant to producer
Andrew Jack	....	dialect coach
Peter Ogunsalu	....	personal assistant: Stephen Dorff
Ben Rimmer	....	location manager
Christopher Simon	....	assistant accountant
Graham Smith	....	unit publicist
Fran Triefus	....	production coordinator
Will Tyler	....	production accountant
Chris Wheeldon	....	supervising location manager uk
Julie Adams	....	dialect coach (uncredited)

Thanks
Eddy Joseph	....	special thanks
Astrid Kirchherr	....	special thanks
Ulf Krüger	....	special thanks
Michael Kuhn	....	special thanks
Aline Perry	....	special thanks
Russell Schwartz	....	special thanks
Pauline Sutcliffe	....	special thanks
Stewart Till	....	special thanks
Klaus Voormann	....	special thanks
Mark Wolfe	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Channel Four Films
• Fortbeam
• PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
• Royal
• Scala Productions

Distributors

• Gramercy Pictures (I) (1994) (USA) (theatrical)
• Senator Film (1994) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Rialto Film AG (1994) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Nuevo Mundo Visión S.A. (1994) (Spain) (theatrical)
• REP Distribution (1994) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• ELKE (1996) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (Australia) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1994) (USA) (laserdisc)
• PlayArte Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• PolyGram Video (1994) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Polydor Music Video (video)
• Senator Home Entertainment (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (1995) (Argentina) (VHS)
• USA Films (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• ReelEye Company (special effects contact lenses)

Other Companies

• Beat About the Bush  musical instruments
• Bucks Motion Picture Laboratories  film processing
• Capital FX  titles and opticals
• Joe Dunton & Company International  camera equipment (as Joe Dunton & Co.)
• Mister Lighting  lighting equipment
• Movietech  camera equipment provided by
• Mr. Lighting  lighting
• Ocean Way Studios  music recorded at
• Ruben Entertainment Insurance Services  insurance
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services
• Twickenham Film Studios  sound re-recording
• Twickenham Sound Station  digital sound editing services
• Virgin Records  soundtrack (as Virgin Movie Music)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language, and for sexuality

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK | Germany

Language:

English | German | French | Russian

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | LC-Concept Digital Sound

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Argentina:13 | South Korea:18 | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Iceland:L | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cheney Street, London, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

1990s punk-rock musicians and techniques were used to create the film's soundtrack, instead of the precise styles of the period, to better convey the way the music felt to the early Beatles audiences; "it was the punk of its day".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: There are at least one movie posters visible, that aren't from that period. "Svezia, inferno e paradiso" (aka Sweden: Heaven and Hell) movie released in 1968, and it can seen in movie theatre scene (At 01:05).

Quotes:

Astrid:Tell me something, John Lennon. When you are rich and famous, when you are number one, when your name is in lights and everybody wants to be your friend, when somebody asks you, "Do you remember Astrid in Hamburg?" what will you say?
John Lennon:I'll say she was the girl I always wanted. The girl of me dreams, like Brigitte Bardot with better manners. I might have fallen in love with her. But she fell in love with me best friend. And that was the end of that.
Astrid:I love him, John.
[pauses]
Astrid:I do.
John Lennon:Yeah. Don't we all?

Movie Connections:

References A Hard Day's Night (1964)

Soundtrack:

Time to Go Home

As a Beatles fan, I found I enjoyed this much more than I expected to

This is a film above all about the triangular relationship between John Lennon, Stuart Sutcliffe, and Astrid Kirchherr (four-sided if you include Astrid's boyfriend Klaus Voormann, five-sided if you include the band John and Stu were members of: the Beatles) -- a film about real events, about love and life and tragedy -- played out to a backdrop of the Beatles' visits to Hamburg and their performances there.

Based primarily on interviews with Stuart's mother and sister and with Astrid Kirchherr, it's been often criticised as a 'crude caricature', for its factual inaccuracies about the Beatles' time in Hamburg, about the musical performances portrayed, for the one-dimensional portrayal of the "minor" characters, including Paul, George, Pete and John's girlfriend Cynthia, and even for the fact that the actors aren't exact doppelgangers for the characters they portray (they're pretty good likenesses, though).

I can accept all these criticisms, but somewhat to my surprise they didn't spoil the film at all for me. If you want detailed accuracy about the Beatles, this is not for you. Read the books. But if you want to see a film which tells a good story well, and which will give you a real feel for the vibes of the time and for the characters it claims to portray, and an insight into one important aspect of the early history of the Beatles, I think you will enjoy this. I thought I wouldn't, but I did. And I will watch it again. And, did I say? it's about the Beatles.

This is not a biopic, nor does it pretend to be, but it does claim to tell the story of Stu and Astrid, and I thought it did that very well. I don't object at all to the use of some artistic licence, such as Astrid's excellent English. Contrary to some other reviewers, I found the portrayal of the quiet, enigmatic Stu by Stephen Dorff quite excellent, a perfect foil to the bitter, sometimes thoughtful, and wholly charismatic John Lennon, portrayed just as well by Ian Hart.

I first heard the Beatles just before their first British record "Love Me Do" became a minor hit in Autumn 1962. This film portrays events mostly more than a year before then, and even longer before their last stint in Hamburg, at the Star-Club in December 1962, the subject of a famous amateur recording. Apart from the Polydor recordings by Bert Kampfaert, we have little to judge objectively what the band sounded like in 1960-61, but judging from the 1962 live recordings, and the comments of those who heard them before they were famous, I'm quite prepared to believe the Beatles sounded then very much like the band used for the soundtrack to this film. OK, the band aren't the Beatles, and some of the details are a bit askew, but the rock-and-roll standards portrayed were all part of the Beatles' act, and are performed much as they performed them. Everyone tells how Stu Sutcliffe often played turning away from the audience, as often seen in the film. It's hardly a realistic portrayal of the Hamburg clubs on the Reeperbahn in the early 1960s, but I've seen worse, and if you have little idea what life was like for the band before 1962, this will not be a bad introduction.

Comparisons with "A Hard Day's Night" are ingenuous: that was a film made by the Beatles early in 1964 after they were famous (in Britain at least); this is a film about the band when they were teenagers, before pretty much anyone knew them outside Liverpool and Hamburg. Not the same at all. And of course, they didn't sound back then like the Beatles' later recordings, or even like they did on their tours of the US and elsewhere. Perhaps the only recording you can really compare is their first album "Please Please Me" (and the live Star-Club recording, if you have it).

It's a film, for goodness' sake. I enjoyed it as one, and I hope you do too. The characters rang true, especially Ian Hart as John Lennon, and the story is well worth telling, and well worth watching. And, did I say? it's about the Beatles.