The Beach
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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.
What critics thought
DivisivePanned by most critics on release as a shallow, unfocused adaptation that squanders its darker source material, the film has since found a more sympathetic audience drawn to Darius Khondji's cinematography and DiCaprio's willingness to take a genuinely risky role at the peak of his post-Titanic fame. The gap between its contemporary critical drubbing and its retrospective reappraisal is itself the most interesting thing about it.
“Watching The Beach is like experiencing a script conference where only sequences are discussed--never the whole film...There are the elements here for a romantic triangle, for a man-against-the-jungle drama, for a microcosm-of-civilization parable or for a cautionary lesson about trying to be innocent in a cruel world...and that's material for satire or insight, I guess, although the movie offers none.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“Despite a flat finale and some laughable hypothesizing about pursuits of liberty, the movie has its own addictive elements: well-used electronica, Darius Khondji's photography and the nonstop charisma of its star.”
Wesley Morris·San Francisco Chronicle
“DiCaprio delivers strongly, showing Richard as selfish, manipulative, cowardly and dangerously naive — all of which makes the young man's hard-won maturity...more affecting.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“His performance pulls from all corners of his arsenal; it's sexy and brave and wild-eyed and, eventually, exceedingly vulnerable. I can't say whether it was the failure of The Beach that did it, but DiCaprio has never been this adventurous on screen since. And he's certainly never been this risky when it comes to selecting projects.”
Joe Reid·The Atlantic
Genres
Drama, Adventure, Romance, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Danny BoyleDirector
Leonardo DiCaprioRichard
Virginie LedoyenFrançoise
Guillaume CanetÉtienne
Tilda SwintonSal
Staffan KihlbomChristo
Paterson JosephKeaty
Peter Youngblood HillsZeph
Robert CarlyleDaffy
Jerry SwindallSammy
Lars Arentz-HansenBugs
Jukka HiltunenKarl
Magnus LindgrenSten
Angelo BadalamentiComposer
Alex GarlandWriter
John HodgeWriter
Darius KhondjiCinematographyThe Beach
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.
What critics thought
DivisivePanned by most critics on release as a shallow, unfocused adaptation that squanders its darker source material, the film has since found a more sympathetic audience drawn to Darius Khondji's cinematography and DiCaprio's willingness to take a genuinely risky role at the peak of his post-Titanic fame. The gap between its contemporary critical drubbing and its retrospective reappraisal is itself the most interesting thing about it.
“Watching The Beach is like experiencing a script conference where only sequences are discussed--never the whole film...There are the elements here for a romantic triangle, for a man-against-the-jungle drama, for a microcosm-of-civilization parable or for a cautionary lesson about trying to be innocent in a cruel world...and that's material for satire or insight, I guess, although the movie offers none.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“Despite a flat finale and some laughable hypothesizing about pursuits of liberty, the movie has its own addictive elements: well-used electronica, Darius Khondji's photography and the nonstop charisma of its star.”
Wesley Morris·San Francisco Chronicle
“DiCaprio delivers strongly, showing Richard as selfish, manipulative, cowardly and dangerously naive — all of which makes the young man's hard-won maturity...more affecting.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“His performance pulls from all corners of his arsenal; it's sexy and brave and wild-eyed and, eventually, exceedingly vulnerable. I can't say whether it was the failure of The Beach that did it, but DiCaprio has never been this adventurous on screen since. And he's certainly never been this risky when it comes to selecting projects.”
Joe Reid·The Atlantic
Genres
Drama, Adventure, Romance, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Danny BoyleDirectorLeonardo DiCaprioRichardVirginie LedoyenFrançoiseGuillaume CanetÉtienneTilda SwintonSalStaffan KihlbomChristoPaterson JosephKeatyPeter Youngblood HillsZephRobert CarlyleDaffyJerry SwindallSammyLars Arentz-HansenBugsJukka HiltunenKarlMagnus LindgrenStenAngelo BadalamentiComposerAlex GarlandWriterJohn HodgeWriterDarius KhondjiCinematographyStream
Rent & Buy