Sea, Sand and Sex (The Beach (DVD))

Member Name: NikkiH

Product:	The Beach (DVD)
Date:	18/06/02 (103 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good adaptation, Good acting

Disadvantages: Not for lovers of the book

Many films are hyped so much before the release that you feel you have actually seen the film before it is released. This was very much the case with 'The Beach', and I was not expecting any surprises.

Based on the novel by Alex Garland, and brought to us by the team behind 'Trainspotting', 'Shallow Grave' and 'Life Less Ordinary', who are director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew MacDonald, and script writer John Hodge, so you may expect the film to have some dry wit in amongst the plot, and it is there but in small doses.

After failing to attain the same success as he did in 'Titanic', Leonardo De Caprio was quoted as saying that he thought this film would be an even bigger blockbuster. He stars as Richard, a somewhat naive backpacker searching for happiness and peace in Asia. Richard spends his spare time photographing his surroundings, trying very hard not to be a stereotypical traveller, although he still finds himself falling in with the other travellers and their habits, which leads to his involvement in drugs, and ultimately his meeting in Thailand with the mad Scot Daffy played by Robert Carlyle. They have a strange conversation about the place that everyone is looking for, 'A Beach resort for people who don't like beach resorts!', and when Daffy is found dead the next morning after committing suicide, but not before he has left a map pinned to the door of Richard's room, so Richard to decides to set off in search of the perfect place......The Beach.

Before he sets off Richard meets up with a French couple, Francoise (Virginie Ledoyen) and Etienne (Guillarme Canet), who decide to tag along for the adventure. They manage to locate the island, and swin to it, but find that they must make their way across the island dicing with death at every turn, and they only just manage to evade capture and make it to the beach. Initially the group are not accepted, as the leader Sal (Tilda Swi
nton) has an agreement with local authorities that they can stay as long as the size of their community does not become too large, so they are always wary of newcomers.

At first, the beach seems the perfect place to be, but it soon becomes clear that there are more rules in this small communtity than in the outside world, and Richard causes more conflict when he sleeps with Francoise, after enduring many weeks of sexual tension between them. The tension reaches new heights when there are some horrific accidents, and then when new visitors arrive on the island and are murdered by the guards, only for it to be discovered by Sal that they found their way there after Richard gave them a copy of the map, and he soon finds himself an outcast, which is when he really starts to lose his mind, and here you see similarities to 'Trainspotting', especially the scenes in which Richard starts to halucinate, believing he is Rambo, and the star of his own computer game!

I think DeCaprio was a good choice for the role of Richard. There have been stories that Ewan McGregor and Danny Boyle no longer speak, as McGregor believed the role should have been his. I agree with Boyle, and think that McGregor would not have been able to carry off the role so well, and his narration adds to the mood of the film. He made a good choice passing over 'American Physcho' for this film.

The film itself take a couple of viewings for you to fully understand it, but it is very good, and has such a mix of emotion and subject matter that you can't fail to be entertained. I always try not to compare a film with the book it is based on, as I have never seen a film which surpasses the book in terms of quality, but I warn you that if you are looking for a carbon copy of the book then you will disappointed, as there are many changes, so as much as you loved the book, it is no guarantee that you will like the film.

The soundtrack to the film is a must have
, and the highlights are 'On Your Own' by Blur, 'Pure Shores' by All Saints and 'Yeke Yeke' by Mori Kante, and coupled with the amazing visuals, the films owes it's success to this as much as the performances of the actors.

Interestingly, the makers of the film were put on trial accused of damaging part of a Thai national park on Maya Bay, Phi Phi Island, which was used for a scene where the inhabitants of the island play football.

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