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"The
Beach"
 Starring:
Guillaume Canet, Leonardo DiCaprio,
Robert Carlyle, Tilda Swinton, Virginie Ledoyen
120
minutes
Rated R
Released 1999
Warnings: Language, adult situations, violence, drug use [JULY
27, 2000] The
Dream: the most perfect beach in the whole world, complete with the
softest white sand, tall coconut trees, a high-tide blue lagoon, and
picturesque mountains in the background – all perfectly protected
and secluded from the rest of the world.
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On
a solitary trip to Thailand, Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) decides
that most travelers to the most adventurous places in the world
arrive and turn on the television, eat McDonald’s, and do all
the other things that they would normally do at home, rather than
experience the true adventure that awaits them. And so he
challenges himself to take an adventure that most would avoid.
Seeking just such an adventure, he is unfulfilled by drinking
snake blood or indulging in the other lurid challenges of urban
Thailand.
That
night, alone in the hostel, he is awakened by an insane stranger
calling himself Daffy Duck (Robert Carlyle). Daffy discloses that
he has recently returned to the city from a place of perfection,
and asks Richard if perfection and adventure are his goals. Having
an insane conversation together, suddenly Daffy disappears, only
to turn up dead the next morning with his wrists slit. Richard is
his apparent beneficiary: A map to a secret island is tacked to
the door of Richard’s room, with Daffy’s trademark signature
on the back.
Seeking
someone to share in his new dream, Richard interests the French
couple in the next hostel room to accompany him on this newfound
adventure to discover and land on this island and find this most
perfect beach. And so, three young travelers embark across country
and across the sea to reach their secret destination. But not
before Richard shares a copy of the map with two male travelers
whom he meets along the way.
Their
discoveries along the way are only an introduction to the
adventures they become part of when at last they arrive at their
destination. It looks perfect, it smells perfect, but can the
perfect place remain perfect if we take ourselves along for the
trip?
"The
Beach" is nearly the perfect adventure film. It employs a
modern plot and I like that. Most adventure films depict times
past when the world was a much bigger, uncharted place, and there
were many places left which were largely uncontaminated by
civilization. Since I live in the present, I can better relate to
a movie which speaks of an unspoiled adventure which I can take
even today.
(To
top of second column)
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"The
Beach" is nearly the perfect drama film. The threats to life,
property, way of life and freedom are very real in this movie. Each
person who makes the trip is totally at risk. In the most perfect
place on earth, there are fewer protections and greater threats. In
this modern, upside-down "Lord of the Flies" story, the
perfect culture attempts to protect their perfect way of life at the
cost of the individual. This tension is the real story.
"The
Beach" is a film about youth culture and escapism, with a heavy
emphasis on smoking marijuana as a way of life. I had a hard time
relating to the desire to go to a place where drugs are commonplace
and getting high is a daily event. As for its position on drug use,
this film does not seem to condone or convict, but remains neutral to
this whole lifestyle.
My
significant other, Walter, agrees that the acting in this movie was
convincing and above average. The characters particularly captured and
convinced us as we viewed this film. But Walter and I disagree
concerning the cinematography: I say that it captured the beauty, but
failed to convey the angst. Smidge said that she didn’t really like
the movie (although she adores Leonardo). For Leonardo, this movie
seems like a cross between his "Gilbert Grape" character,
his character in "Titanic" and his character in "Return
to Blue Lagoon."
There
seems to be a great deal of chaos in the plot of this story. It fails,
in the end, to convey the peace and serenity of the most beautiful
place on earth (on purpose). It also fails to bring you in close to
the characters. There is a distant, existential quality to the film,
which is perhaps its only flaw.
If
watching a film a second time is a measure of the quality of its
craft, then this is a film to rent. Walter and I will probably watch
this one again when it finally makes its way to the $1.00 rack (about
a year or so from now, at least).
I
enjoyed it, recommend it with some small reservations, and give it 3½
stars out of 5.
[midge]
E-mail
your comments to me at midge@lincolndailynews.com.
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