The Beach (2000/I)

Director:

Danny Boyle

Writers:

John Hodge (screenplay)
Alex Garland (novel)

Release Date:

11 February 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Paradise has its price

Plot:

Twenty-something Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss - excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.

Plot Keywords:

Map | Paradise | Thailand | Bangkok | Suicide

Awards:

7 nominations

Cast

Leonardo DiCaprio	...	Richard
Daniel York	...	Hustler
Patcharawan Patarakijjanon	...	Hotel Receptionist
Virginie Ledoyen	...	Françoise
Guillaume Canet	...	Étienne
Robert Carlyle	...	Daffy
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 (as Abhijati 'Muek' Jusakul)
Sanya 'Gai' Cheunjit	...	Farmer
Kaneung 'Nueng' Kenia	...	Farmer

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, some strong sexuality, language and drug content.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | French | Swedish | Thai | Serbo-Croatian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:18PL | Brazil:18 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KT | Canada:14A | Finland:K-14 (video rating) | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #36919) | Philippines:R-18 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Figment Films

Trivia:

The videogame recreation scene in the jungle was inspired upon the game 'Banjo-Kazooie (1998)', developed by Rare Ltd., according to Danny Boyle.

Goofs:

Continuity: The handwriting on the virtual postcard near the end of the movie changes style between wide shots and close-ups.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Richard: My name is Richard. So what else do you need to know? Stuff about my family, or where I'm from? None of that matters. Not once you cross the ocean and cut yourself loose, looking for something more beautiful, something more exciting and yes, I admit, something more dangerous. So after eighteen hours in the back of an airplane, three dumb movies, two plastic meals, six beers and absolutely no sleep, I finally touch down; in Bangkok.

Movie Connections:

References Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Soundtrack:

Neon Reprise

Pretty good, despite all the bad reviews I've read

I went to this one, knowing that it could be crap, but hey, I do not care what others think and once again this way of thinking did not prove me wrong.

This flick is basically about a young twenty who goes away on a trip to Thailand by himself, because he wants to forget his past. There he meets a loony (Robert Carlyle) who gives him a map to a secret paradise. He asks two strangers, Françoise (Virginie Ledoyen who was really great in her first big American Film and good looking too by the way) and Etienne (Guillaume Canet) to come and join them.

After they have found the island they meet an alternative group who lives there and they join them, but after a while problems evolve and a minor 'hell' breaks loose.

This is the plain story-line of the movie, but there is so much more to it, it has a message and that really is what fascinated me a lot in the beginning and at the end. There was a good story there, but the way it was brought over, never really losing the actual message out of sight. Now believe me the direction, the soundtrack and the cast are good. There also is a bit gore, but it fits good in the movie and is not unnecessary.

Yet this film is not flawless, it was good entertainment over all, yes and it was very good in the beginning and in the end, but in the middle when Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) loses it, so does the film and that is a shame. It is just too weird, too long and too incomprehensible (in the sense that the viewer himself doesn't know if it is real or not). It could have been so much better, but I guess it had to be.

NO MUST SEE BUT DEFINATELY WORTH A TRIP TO THE VIDEOSTORE OR TO THE CINEMA AT A DISCOUNT!!!!!!!!

7 out of 10

P.S. Don't agree?????, sue me!!!!!!!!!!! or mail me (see above)