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Leo of the flies
Staff Reporter
Posted Thu, 17 Feb 2000
'The Beach', a frenetic adaptation of Alex Garland's bestseller, boasts Leonardo DiCaprio's eagerly anticipated return to the big screen.
Leonardo DiCaprio has grown up. With some more flesh on his bones, he sinks his teeth into a meaty role that focuses on one's desire to stay young and pursue pleasure. Needless to say, it's an ideal part for the superstar.
'The Beach' is written for the screen by John Hodge, produced by Andrew MacDonald and directed by Danny Boyle - the fabulous troika responsible for 'Shallow Grave' and 'Trainspotting'. While 'The Beach' may not be as harrowing or as clever as these two films, it is certainly a return to form for the Scottish film-makers whose preceding effort, 'A Life Less Ordinary', proved rather disappointing.
Boyle's penchant for surreal visuals and striking colours, backed by a full-tilt soundtrack, is complemented by DiCaprio's brave, edgy performance as Richard - a young traveller in Thailand looking for "something more visceral, more real".
The hedonistic Richard comes across a sketchy map to a stretch of untouched beach that is simply paradise. Accompanied by a free-spirited French couple, Francoise and Etienne (Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet), Richard sets out in search of the secluded utopia. The journey to the beach is daunting, at times very funny and often exciting. When the trio finally arrive, they discover a community of 20-something travellers who have fashioned a life for themselves in the most idyllic, isolated setting.
As Richard states in his voice-over, "It's like a beach resort for people who don't like beach resorts". And therein lies the rub. For, as the film takes its inevitable route down the road of madness and anarchy, one can't help feeling that Richard and his island cohorts are nothing more than selfish brats determined to simply have a good time.
'The Beach' is not 'Apocalypse Now', although it may have such lofty aspirations. The characters are not thrust into a state of war, they only think they are. Ultimately, most of them return to civilisation relatively unscathed. Their fragile island society winds up as an elaborate holiday memory relegated to the benign form of a picture postcard.
That said, DiCaprio's performance is riveting, proving that he is even more of a gifted actor than a bonafide star. And the slick cinematography adds to the film's dollops of style.
Also, 'The Beach' marks yet another film blessed with the presence of the always brilliant Robert Carlyle ('The Full Monty', 'The World Is Not Enough') in a pivotal cameo as Daffy, the mad nutter who first gives Richard the map.
