Backbeat (1994)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Iain Softley

Writers:

Iain Softley (writer)
Michael Thomas (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

15 April 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Music

Tagline:

He Had To Choose Between His Best Friend... The Woman He Loved... And The Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band In the World.

Plot:

A dramatization of the Hamburg, Germany phase of the Beatles' early history.

Plot Keywords:

Stuart Sutcliffe | John Lennon | Germany | Beatles | Paul Mccartney

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Sheryl Lee	...	Astrid Kirchherr
Stephen Dorff	...	Stuart Sutcliffe
Ian Hart	...	John Lennon
Gary Bakewell	...	Paul McCartney
Chris O'Neill	...	George Harrison
Scot Williams	...	Pete Best
Kai Wiesinger	...	Klaus Voormann
Jennifer Ehle	...	Cynthia Powell
Marcelle Duprey	...	Singer
John White	...	Sailor 1
Bernard Merrick	...	Sailor 2
Nicholas Tennant	...	Sailor 3
Finola Geraghty	...	Model
Rob Spendlove	...	Arthur Ballard
Charlie Caine	...	Lord Woodbine
Frieda Kelly	...	Mrs. Harrison
Paul Humpoletz	...	Bruno
Christiana Uriarte	...	Groupie
Abigail Wrapson	...	Groupie
Galit Hershkovitz	...	Groupie
Gertan Klauber	...	Pimp
Stephan Grothgar	...	Barman
Lynn Lowton	...	Hooker
Manuel Harlan	...	Johannes
Britta Gartner	...	Exis
Dirk Winkler	...	Exis
Wolf Kahler	...	Bert Kaempfert
James Doherty	...	Tony Sheridan
Paul Duckworth	...	Ringo Starr
Joerg Stadler	...	Policeman (as Joerg Stabler)
Alexei Jawdokimov	...	Napoleon
Albert Welling	...	Doctor

Directed by
Iain Softley

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Iain Softley		writer
Michael Thomas		writer
Stephen Ward		writer

Produced by
Paul Cowan	....	line producer
Sarah Curtis	....	co-producer
Finola Dwyer	....	producer
Hanno Huth	....	executive producer
Nik Powell	....	executive producer
Stephen M. Williams	....	co-producer
Stephen Woolley	....	producer

Original Music by
Don Was

Cinematography by
Ian Wilson

Film Editing by
Martin Walsh

Casting by
Dianne Crittenden
John Hubbard
Ros Hubbard

Production Design by
Joseph Bennett

Art Direction by
Michael Carlin
Josef Plagge

Set Decoration by
Barbara Herman-Skelding

Costume Design by
Sheena Napier

Makeup Department
Pat Hay	....	makeup artist
Stephen Rose	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Sarah Lucraft	....	production manager: Hamburg

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul Gray	....	third assistant director: Hamburg
Jonathan Karlsen	....	crowd assistant director (as Jon Karlsen)
Cliff Lanning	....	second assistant director
Josh Robertson	....	third assistant director
Mary Soan	....	first assistant director

Art Department
David Bowes	....	art department assistant
Gordon Fitzgerald	....	property master
Andrew Garnett	....	scenic artist

Sound Department
Nainita Desai	....	assistant sound editor
Peter Elliott	....	adr editor
Glenn Freemantle	....	supervising sound editor
Dominic Lester	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Nick Lowe	....	dialogue editor
Chris Munro	....	sound mixer
Chris Munro	....	sound recordist
Robin O'Donoghue	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steve Spencer	....	foley artist
Steve Spencer	....	foley editor

Special Effects by
Tim Baxter	....	optical effects

Visual Effects by
Ray Short	....	titles and opticals
Simon Dowling	....	main title designer (uncredited)
Tony Willis	....	effects cameraman (uncredited)

Stunts
Steve Griffin	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Alan Almond	....	camera operator: second unit
Kenny Byrne	....	focus puller
Pete Cavaciuti	....	steadicam operator
Norman Smith	....	gaffer
Mark Tillie	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Annie Crawford	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
David Barrett	....	assistant editor
Jim Heffernan	....	negative cutter
Daryl Jordan	....	first assistant editor
Scott Klein	....	master colorist

Music Department
Terence Blanchard	....	musician
David Richard Campbell	....	conductor: strings (as David Campbell)
David Richard Campbell	....	orchestrator: strings (as David Campbell)
Greg Dulli	....	singing voice: "John Lennon"
Don Fleming	....	musician: guitar and vocals
David Grohl	....	musician: drums (as Dave Grohl)
Bob Last	....	music supervisor
Mike Mills	....	musician: bass and vocals
Thurston Moore	....	musician: guitar
David Pirner	....	singing voice: "Paul McCartney"
Eric Reed	....	musician

Transportation Department
Dean Ward	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Jeff Bowen	....	location manager
Catherine Charlton	....	dialect coach: UK and Germany
Diana Dill	....	script supervisor
Simon Downes	....	floor runner
Polly Duval	....	assistant to producer
Andrew Jack	....	dialect coach
Peter Ogunsalu	....	personal assistant: Stephen Dorff
Ben Rimmer	....	location manager
Christopher Simon	....	assistant accountant
Fran Triefus	....	production coordinator
Will Tyler	....	production accountant
Graham Smith	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Thanks
Astrid Kirchherr	....	special thanks
Ulf Krüger	....	special thanks
Michael Kuhn	....	special thanks
Aline Perry	....	special thanks
Russell Schwartz	....	special thanks
Pauline Sutcliffe	....	special thanks
Stewart Till	....	special thanks
Klaus Voormann	....	special thanks
Mark Wolfe	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Channel Four Films
• Fortbeam
• PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
• Royal
• Scala Productions

Distributors

• Gramercy Pictures (I) (1994) (USA) (theatrical)
• Senator Film (1994) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Rialto Film AG (1994) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Nuevo Mundo Visión S.A. (1994) (Spain) (theatrical)
• REP Distribution (1994) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (Australia) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1994) (USA) (laserdisc)
• PlayArte Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• PolyGram Video (1994) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Polydor Music Video (video)
• Senator Home Entertainment (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (1995) (Argentina) (VHS)
• USA Films (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Beat About the Bush  musical instruments
• Bucks Motion Picture Laboratories  film processing
• Capital FX  titles and opticals
• Joe Dunton & Company International  camera equipment (as Joe Dunton & Co.)
• Mister Lighting  lighting equipment
• Movietech  camera equipment provided by
• Mr. Lighting  lighting
• Ocean Way Studios  music recorded at
• Ruben Entertainment Insurance Services  insurance
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services
• Twickenham Film Studios  sound re-recording
• Twickenham Sound Station  digital sound editing services
• Virgin Records  soundtrack (as Virgin Movie Music)

Also Known As:

BackBeat - Die Wahrheit über die Beatles (Germany)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK | Germany

Language:

English | German | French

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | LC-Concept Digital Sound

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Argentina:13 | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Iceland:L | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cheney Street, London, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

Though there are no actual Lennon-McCartney songs in the film, the soundtrack does comprise of The Beatles well-known Hamburg/Cavern Club repertoire. Among the songs featured are "Twist and Shout" which would be performed on their first album "Please, Please Me" and "Long Tall Sally" which was a B-Side single opposite "I Feel Fine".

Goofs:

Continuity: A scene dated March 1961 has George being wished a happy 18th birthday. George's actual birthday was in February (as was even mentioned earlier in the film.)

Quotes:

John Lennon: Did ya shag her?
Stuart Sutcliffe: She's a photographer.
John Lennon: You'll never shag her.

Movie Connections:

Version of Stuart Sutcliffe: The Lost Beatle (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Twenty Flight Rock

Prehistory

This is an excellent depiction of the Beatles ' Hamburg days .But the movie's real heroes are actually Sutcliffe,Lennon and Astrid.The movie was made some years after Goldman's infamous book and there are hints at a homosexual relation between John and Stu ("you're jealous of me!"Astrid would have said to John!) but the director does not insist and he finally depicts a true friendship.He pits Stu's down-to-earth world against Astrid's chic elitist intellectual one : they go to the pictures to see Melville's "Les enfants terribles" (actually a Cocteau story),and she seems to be very fond of the French culture:Cocteau,Sartre ,Edith Piaf ,Rimbaud,;and she was ahead of her time since fifteen years later,rock singer Patti Smith had the same idols.The scenarists also sketch a parallel between the Klaus Voorman/Astrid relationship and "les enfants terribles" Ian Hart is an excellent John Lennon,in turn cynical,violent,delicate,nasty,hateful;Gary Bakewell resembles Paul,but he is not given a single moment to shine ;as for Georges ,he is completely insignificant.The music is very exciting .Even when Stu (Dorff) sings his ditty in a gleeful croak ,it's rock and roll ! At the end of the movie,the dialog begins to ring false.Everybody acts as if the Beatles were to become huge ;at the time ,who could have predicted such a career?It's a rebuilding of history a posteriori.And if the final lines about Astrid,Stu and Klaus are useful,those about the Beatles are overkill:everybody knows that they were the biggest group of all time.

A must for Beatles' fans anyway.