Beat (2000)

Director:

Gary Walkow

Writer:

Gary Walkow (written by)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Sex and Drugs before Rock and Roll

Plot:

The story of writer William Seward Burroughs and his wife. |

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Poet | New York | Beatnik | Hairy Chest

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Courtney Love	...	Joan Vollmer Burroughs
Kiefer Sutherland	...	William S. Burroughs
Lisa Sheridan	...	Sadie
Patricia Llaca	...	Mary (as Patricia De Llaca)
Steve Hedden	...	Pharmacist
Ron Livingston	...	Allen Ginsberg
Norman Reedus	...	Lucien Carr
Daniel Martínez	...	Jack Kerouac
Kyle Secor	...	Dave Kammerer
Pedro Gonzalez	...	Knife Sharpener
Georgiana Sîrbu	...	Julie
Rene Rubio	...	Bill Jr.
Sam Trammell	...	Lee
Alec Von Bargen	...	Heard
Tommy Perna	...	Dwight
Luis Felipe Tovar	...	Federale Sergeant
Khotan	...	Federale Officer (as Kothan)
Serafina De Lorca	...	Woman at Angahuan
Chano Samoana	...	Man at Bar
Darren Ross	...	UPI colleague
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Luisa Huertas	...	Maria (uncredited)

Directed by
Gary Walkow

Writing credits
Gary Walkow		(written by)

Produced by
Michael Beugg	....	co-executive producer
Willi Bär	....	executive producer
Wendy Pier Cassileth	....	co-producer
Alejandra Cárdenas	....	co-producer (as Alexandra Cárdenas)
Leonardo de la Sierra	....	co-producer
Danny Dimbort	....	executive producer
Dave Duce	....	assistant producer
Avi Lerner	....	executive producer
Heidi Levitt	....	co-producer
Nicole M. Libresco	....	line producer
Andrew Pfeffer	....	producer
Trevor Short	....	executive producer
Alain Silver	....	producer
Antonio Zavala Kugler	....	co-executive producer
Víctor Zavala Kugler	....	co-executive producer (as Víctor Zavala)
Donald Zuckerman	....	producer

Original Music by
Ernest Troost

Cinematography by
Ciro Cabello

Film Editing by
Peter B. Ellis
Steve Vance

Casting by
Heidi Levitt
Monika Mikkelsen

Production Design by
Rando Schmook

Art Direction by
Ana Solares

Costume Design by
David Chierichetti
Patricia Delgado

Makeup Department
Paco Baron	....	hair stylist
Gabriela Benito	....	makeup artist
Jahel Enguilo	....	hair stylist
Humberto Escamilla	....	assistant makeup artist
Kathy Jeung	....	key makeup artist
Gabriela Ovalle	....	makeup artist
Lona Vigi	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Jesús Jimenez	....	production manager: Mexico
Nicole M. Libresco	....	production manager
Michael Toji	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Frederic Henocque	....	first assistant director
Ozcar Ramírez	....	second assistant director
Alain Silver	....	first assistant director
Alejandro Sánchez de la Peña	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Arturo Bastón	....	assistant art director
Alejandra Cuervo	....	art department assistant
René Marquéz	....	on-set dresser
Zaida Monteforte	....	art coordinator
Hugo A. Reyes	....	property master

Sound Department
Katherine Alcantar	....	dialogue assistant
Eric Behrend	....	sound re-recording mixer
Sarah Brady	....	adr supervisor
Matthew T. Duncan	....	sound recordist
Carlos Isais	....	sound recordist
Jerry Jordan	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jon Mete	....	supervising sound editor
Jon Metz	....	sound supervisor
Gina Nuccio	....	adr editor
Doug Reed	....	foley artist
Scott Rusch	....	foley recordist
Leon Sandoval	....	boom operator
Brian Smith	....	adr mixer
Mimi Starrett	....	sound services manager
Cameron Steenhagen	....	dialogue editor
William Jacobs	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Stunts
Arminius Arzate	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Jose Cabiya	....	camera loader
Oswaldo Carrera	....	grip
Ricardo Covarrubias	....	best boy
Mariano Federico Garcia	....	still photographer
Pedro Gonzalez	....	key grip
Jesús González Gancy	....	gaffer
Noe Muñoz	....	first assistant camera
Ismael Parades	....	dolly grip (as Ismael Paredes)
Regino Perez	....	best boy
Juan Pablo Somohano	....	second assistant camera

Casting Department
Leah Buono	....	casting associate: USA

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Amy Brownson	....	seamstress
Liz Cowan	....	costume designer: Ms. Love
Gary Farnsworth	....	assistant costumer: USA
Eduardo Hermosilla	....	assistant costumer: Mexico
Kristen Johnson	....	assistant costumer: USA
Yasmine Mustaklim	....	assistant costumer: USA
Jaime Ortiz	....	key set costumer
Bao Tranchi	....	seamstress
Fernando Varela	....	assistant costumer: Mexico

Editorial Department
Lauren Anderson	....	assistant editor
Megan Madzoeff	....	first assistant editor
Joy Stingone	....	apprentice editor
David C. Whitten	....	color timer

Music Department
Louise Hatem	....	music producer
Ernest Troost	....	conductor
Ernest Troost	....	music producer
Ernest Troost	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Federico Alvarez	....	production assistant
Mariel Ayuso	....	production assistant
Hans Paul Brauns	....	location manager
Linda Brookover	....	production executive
Eaquel Cortes	....	assistant production accountant
Rodrigo Herranz	....	production coordinator
Sarah Maruri	....	production secretary
Valerie Miranda	....	assistant to director
Emily Mullen	....	assistant to producers
Alejandra Orozco	....	production secretary
Lourdes Perez Nido	....	production accountant
Ana Rebuelta	....	script supervisor
Zana Ross	....	assistant to producers
Bernando Terrones	....	key production assistant
Claudia Tovar	....	production assistant
Steve Vance	....	title designer
Vivian Velasco	....	assistant production coordinator
Alma Rosa Zuñiga	....	stand-in: Ms. Love
Eric Jones	....	visual consultant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Background Productions
• Beat LLC
• Martien Holdings A.V.V.
• Millenium Pictures
• Pendragon Film
• Pfilmco
• Walking Pictures

Distributors

• Flashstar Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Strengholt Licensing (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• TDM Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• TDM Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Film Finances  completion guarantor

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language and elements of sex, drugs and violence

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company:

Background Productions

Quotes:

Joan Vollmer:So, do they have ruins down in Guatemala?
William S. Burroughs:It's all ruins. Or it all will be, given enough time.
Joan Vollmer:Ah, just like people.
William S. Burroughs:Yes. But people decay more promptly than Mayan temples.

Movie Connections:

Version of Naked Lunch (1991)

Soundtrack:

Hug Me, Slug Me

I love you like a hole in the head

I wasn't expecting much (truth be told) but was quite pleasantly surprised. As much as history equates to fiction (and from what I've heard/read this movie must be taken as a work of near-fiction.. "sources" being what they are..) this story still made for a pretty good motion picture. Courtney Love is a very good actress, and not many parts is she better suited to than that of Joan Burroughs. I liked her performance. Keifer Sutherland also made a pretty convincing Bill. The guy that played Lucien Carr (Norman Reedus?) was also impressive.

As "interpretive" as the story was I didn't resent it as much as I thought I might. I imagine William Burroughs, were he still in the land of the living, might have had a few issues with this film but hey, movies always without fail in-one-way-or-another romanticize the truth (truth, truth.. mmmm.. ponder it) and the movie DID do that.. but not as grotesquely as it could've and for that, if nothing else, I liked it. Well-observed (in a secondary, nobody-here-was-actually-there, speculative kind of way) the story still flowed (aided by the, in my opinion, very good performances.) Keifer made William Burroughs seem to have emotions, and strong ones at that, which was interesting.. as you never really picture him like that. (Going by the tone of his spoken-word recordings maybe? the dour face? the slightly contemptible countenance? I don't know.. you just never think of him as the howl-at-the-moon type.. I think Keifer's attempt at humanizing him was quite admirable really.)

The script wasn't bad (could've been MUCH worse.. riddled with beatnik cliches..) there were no real cringe-worthy moments (no-one said anything to the effect of "are you hip to all that jazz" etc etc.. which was a relief.) I liked the movie overall. It's no major statement, and you'd do infinitely better to read some of the great biographies out there if you want an overview of the tale and the beats in general, but the movie is a harmless, and quite enjoyable, footnote.

I liked the quotes at the end (their attempt at a summery i suppose..) especially the gorgeous quote from Lucien Carr. Oh yes and Ron Livingston was also in fine form as poor old lovelorn Allen Ginsberg.