As film reviewer you must always be prepared for some quite unpleasant surprises. If someone in late 1990s told the author of this review that he would have difficulties sitting in cinema until the end of the film directed by Danny Boyle, celebrated maker of Trainspotting, he would have laughed. But shortly afterwards I knew better, thanks to Boyle’s 2000 film The Beach.
The film is based on the eponymous bestselling novel by Alex Garland, young British writer who would later write screenplays for Boyle’s films like 28 Days Later and Sunshine. The plot begins in Bangkok where young American tourist Richard (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) meets eccentric man named Daffy (played by Robert Carlyle). Daffy treats Richard with couple of joints and story about island where, far from everyone’s sight, exists perfect beach and the group of hedonistic Westerners that had decided to spend the rest of life in such paradise. Next morning Daffy is found dead with his wrists slashed, but before suicide he has managed to give map of island to Richard. Intrigued by the story and possibility of new adventure, Richard meets French tourist couple Étienne (played by Guillaume Canet) and Françoise (played by Virginie Ledoyen) and asks them to join his quest. Trio manages to swim towards the island where they find large field of cannabis guarded by Kalashnikov-wielding farmers. They pass through it and when finally reach their destination, risk seems worth it. The beach is indeed heavenly place, with plenty of food, drink and marijuana, while the community, led by Sal (played by Tilda Swinton) greets newcomers with open arms. Richard starts idyllic life that won’t be endangered even by his romance with Françoise. But it is different matter with kind but careless gesture he made towards two surfers during his trip towards the island. Two men attempt to arrive to an island, much to horror of Sal, who is concerned that the beach can’t sustain too many people and that the delicate deal with farmers might be shattered.
The worst thing about The Beach is in the large amount of missed possibilities. Script by John Hodge, even after watering down the literary source for average audience, could have been adapted into at least four very different films. This could have been exciting adventure story with exotic settings very much like Boorman’s Deliverance or The Emerald Forest. Dystopian motives in the novel could have been basis for disturbing and thought-provoking drama like The Lord of the Flies. Love story, which actually hadn’t exist in the novel, could have been used for exploration of sexuality morality within Generation X. And, finally, a little bit more black humour could have made this film exponentially more entertaining. But Danny Boyle apparently didn’t see those opportunities, probably too overwhelmed by the beauty of Thailand’s locations and focused exclusively on bringing pretty images on screen without any regard for their justification or common sense (best seen in failed and completely redundant homage to Apocalypse Now.
Situation is even more tragic with the cast. DiCaprio, hired for the lead role instead of Boyle’s friend Ewan McGregor, appears aware than his teen girl fanbase would flock to cinemas regardless of his efforts, so he doesn’t actually bother with his role. It’s even worse with French actress Virginie Ledoyen who lacks any chemistry with DiCaprio and whose love scenes seem incredibly wooden. Almost everyone, with exception of Robert Carlyle who, sadly, disappears early in the film, or Tilda Swinton, which appears relatively shortly, doesn’t do proper job and most of the characters are utterly dislikeable. It seems that most of the cast was hired on the basis of their looks instead of talents, making The Beach look like Aaron Spelling’s television soap instead of potentially groundbreaking film. Characters we are supposed to care about become so irritating near the end so many in the audience would wish for Thai farmers to make life simpler for everyone by making short work of them. That nearly happens near the end, albeit not in the way that would please the audience. Despite decent box office results, usually explained by DiCaprio’s stellar power at its height and promotion campaign based on “cool” soundtrack (including hit songs like “Purer Shores” by All Saints and “Porcelain” by Moby), The Beach was rejected by critics and DiCaprio was even nominated for Razzie for Worst Actor. Reputation of the film was further damaged by controversies relating to alleged ecological damage to Thai locations during the production and it isn’t surprising that Boyle and Garland nowadays aren’t too enthusiastic about their work.
RATING: 2/10 (-)
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