Movie Talks Archives

Posted by: dh1989 at January 15, 2003, 10:35 pm

Topic: The Beach(Leonardo DiCaprio) Forum: JoBlo

SPOILERS! This film is a spectacular ride. The basic plot is simple: A man(DiCaprio), along with two French companions, goes in search of a secret island, a paradise. They consider themselves "travelers" instead of "tourists". They do not go to a place to rent a hotel room, fill it with all of the American products we love, and see all the museums filled with artifacts. They want an "adventure". An experience worthy of remembrance. They want to have a scar, not a snapshot that fails to capture a moment(or so they do at the start). That is what, IMO, makes this film fascinating. The philosphy it has of traveler vs. tourist. Brilliant stuff. The characters are all played brilliantly. DiCaprio, my all-time favourite actor, plays Richard, the lead. He has come to Thailand in search of an adventure. He wants to leave the realm of "typical American tourists". This is evident from the first 10 minutes, where he drinks snake blood on a dare from a Thai street vendor. DiCaprio is excellent here. A very deep performance. He can go from any emotion in a second without taking the audience out of it. A+ work. Tilda Swinton plays the head of the island, Sal. She turns in a strong performance. She keeps her character on edge through all of her time on screen. She keeps up the suspense whether she is a cold, but caring woman or simply a mean bitch with no heart. That is why she is excellent. She takes that character's personality and plays it effectively. Again, A+ work! Virginie Ledoyen plays Francoise, a French girl who Richard meets in Thailand and accompanies him on his quest for paradise. First, she is incredibly hot. There is no real denying that. She is a classic beauty, and it captures the screen. She also delivers her line with this charm. Its strange, but she is incredibly endearing, which is excellent because it gives Richard good motivation for this unescapable lust he has for her. Guillaume Canet plays Francoise's boyfriend, Etiene(please excuse my ignorance of how to spell French names! ). He captures the screen, and has a very good presence of a quiet, but strong man. He expertly plays a wonderful character with a great strength. He does not give in to cheap emotions as is evident when he yells at Richard for sleeping with his girlfriend. Yes, he yells, but he also says he wants her to be happy, and is willing to hide anger for her sake. Robert Carlyle has a cameo here as Daffy, a whacky Brit who smokes dope and tells Richard about the island. What can you always expect from Mr. Carlyle? Insane eagerness and a performance beautifully drenched in over-the-top juices. No different here. The village on the island is full of colorful characters. Each character has their own little thing, which is excellent. They never, ever bore you. On a technical side, this film is beautiful. The cinematography is breathtaking. Beautiful vistas. Icy blue lagoons. Cozy cots. It sucked me in. I felt the air in my hair. Really. The direction is EXCELLENT! The movie has this energy about it. It is very, very energetic. It moves along quickly, and every shot has something spectacular to behold. A beautiful film. When Francoise and Richard have sex, they start in the lagoon surrounded by tiny shrimp, who light up when they are "disturbed". This results in a beautiful passion sequence. Remember "Fight Club"? The weird sex scene with Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter? This is opposite. Not weird, but beautiful. The writing is spectacular! The movie is a dramatic thriller laced with comedy and action. Yep, a real genre jumper, but it is not hectic. It is excellent. The film is mainly a drama about the vain pursuit of paradise. This film tells it does NOT exist. It takes work to keep up paradise. Therefore it is not paradise. It is a working community. To keep up their relaxing paradise, it turns into a hard work situation. More hard work than living in the normal world. They also have to live a life trying to please the drug dealers. Don't do anything to displease them or you'll meet the business end of a machine gun. This film also works as a great thriller. No offense, but in a film taking place in the unknown parts of Thailand, there has to be some thrills. There are sharks, jumps off cliffs, and a run through pot fields being chased by armed men. It is terribly scary. A real white-knuckler. This film also has some big laughs, and some great gags. Overall, it has everything. In the end, this film is genius. A film about travel through the unknown. An excellent experience. I reccomend everyone sees this film for themselves. I find that it was HORRIBLY underrated by critics and some movie fans alike. If you want to experience tons of emotions in a film that reminds you why you love movies, see The Beach. Trust Me........ Grade: 10/10 or A+ or *****/*****

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