The Beach (2000/I)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Danny Boyle

Writers:

John Hodge (screenplay)
Alex Garland (novel)

Release Date:

11 February 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Paradise has its price

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Map | Paradise | Hotel | Island | Travel

Awards:

7 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 14	1:00 PM	Fox
Thur. Nov. 19	10:00 AM	FX

Cast

Leonardo DiCaprio	...	Richard
Daniel York	...	Hustler
Patcharawan Patarakijjanon	...	Hotel Receptionist
Virginie Ledoyen	...	Françoise
Guillaume Canet	...	Étienne
Robert Carlyle	...	Daffy
Somboon Phutaroth	...	Cleaning Woman
Weeratham 'Norman' Wichairaksakui	...	Detective
Jak Boon	...	Travel Agent
Peter Youngblood Hills	...	Zeph
Jerry Swindall	...	Sammy
Krongthong Thampradith	...	Woman with Key
Abhijati 'Meuk' Jusakul	...	Senior Farmer (as Abhijati 'Muek' Jusakul)
Sanya 'Gai' Cheunjit	...	Farmer
Kaneung 'Nueng' Kenia	...	Farmer

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, some strong sexuality, language and drug content.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | French | Swedish | Thai | Serbo-Croatian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:18PL | Brazil:18 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KT | Canada:14A | Finland:K-14 (video rating) | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #36919) | Philippines:R-18 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Figment Films

Trivia:

The actual beach is not totally surrounded and enclosed by mountains, hiding it from the sea. In fact, there is a large gap between two gigantic boulders, and the films editors superimposed a fake mountain there in post-production.

Goofs:

Continuity: The handwriting on the virtual postcard near the end of the movie changes style between wide shots and close-ups.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Richard: My name is Richard. So what else do you need to know? Stuff about my family, or where I'm from? None of that matters. Not once you cross the ocean and cut yourself loose, looking for something more beautiful, something more exciting and yes, I admit, something more dangerous. So after eighteen hours in the back of an airplane, three dumb movies, two plastic meals, six beers and absolutely no sleep, I finally touch down; in Bangkok.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2000-02-12)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Woozy

An amazing film

Danny Boyle did an exquisite job on this film. When I first learned that it was indeed a Danny Boyle film I was a bit disappointed that it didn't have any of his "original" cast members... the people that he always works with. When I learned that Robert Carlyle was in this, I was ecstatic. This film has so many wonderful points, I can't list them all. I'm just going to say that "enjoy your dinner Richard" was a classic cinematic moment. A great thing about this film is that it's a wonderful representation of a microcosm of todays society. It shows that no matter how hard you try to escape all the wrongs in life, and all of your daily annoyances, they'll still be there no matter where you escape to. This film doesn't go from beginning to end. It circles. There is no ending because their lives didn't end. Truly a supreme film. It is what one should expect from a man like Danny Boyle. Leonardo DiCaprio gives another amazing performance. It takes a wonderful actor to be able to portray an emotion such as insanity just with his eyes, and he did so wonderfully!