Boyle's 'Beach' a visual masterpiece
Review by Kevin Polowy
State Press Magazine
|
photo by Peter Mountain, courtesy Twentieth Century Fox (left to right) Francoise (Virginie Ledoyen), Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Etienne (Guillaume Canet) ponder the distance they must swim to reach the secret island paradise known as "the beach." |
Filmmakers like David Fincher, David O. Russell and Sam Mendes made 1999 a year that may be long remembered as a stepping stone in American cinema, an era that's living proof of the visual and intellectual evolution of film. They, among a swarm of other directors, brought the medium to new heights with innovative shooting methods enhanced by irreverent and decorative scripts in films like American Beauty and Three Kings.
With The Beach, Danny Boyle answers his colleague's calling. He delivers a film that is beautifully shot from start to finish, an optical presentation that sizzles the retina. True, Boyle has the scenic paradise in which the story takes place to work with, but he is as effective at capturing his subject's true nature as he is a picturesque waterfall.
At the same time his film is rebellious. Like Fincher's Fight Club, the lead character is at the crossroads of his existence, unsatisfied with what the modern way of living has to offer. He craves simplicity, and has ventured off to Thailand in search only to find that with the exception of easier accessibility to pot and snake blood, things aren't much different.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Richard, who speaks frankly with us at the film's start: "My name is Richard. What else do you need to know?" Richard discovers that he is not the only alienated youngster on permanent vacation from the computer age, but that many others dwell in these foreign lands as well.
But what sets him apart is that he has met Daffy (Robert Carlyle), a strange cat Richard deems "fucked up in the head," who leaves him a map for the promised land-- a secret, uninhibited beach that's as close to utopia as any place on Earth. Accompanied by a young French couple, Etienne (Guillaume Canet) and Francoise (Virginie Ledoyen), the threesome embark on a vigorous journey to find this perfect land they call "the beach."
Richard and company eventually reach their destination (and possibly, their destiny) only to discover that a community of youthful travellers like themselves have settled there. They are welcomed into the group, and soon enough adjust to life in paradise where their only troubles are the occasional fungus-contaminated rice. Everything's just fine and peachy-- for the moment (you know there has to be drama).
You could come up with infinite film hybrids to describe The Beach (how about The Blue Lagoon meets Trainspotting) but none could possibly do this film the justice it deserves. It is one of those few films released each year in which every aspect of the film, from the music to the cinematography, just works.
DiCaprio had been searching for the perfect role to return from his post-Titanic hiatus and he has found it in the complex role of Richard. Through narration, his character is one we can relate to on so many levels but at the same time some of his actions seem outlandish, alienating himself from us.
Boyle, who gave us the cult-classic Trainspotting, tells his most emotionally stimulating story to date. Based on the novel by Alex Garland, Boyle, DiCaprio and the rest of the crew make The Beach one of the most satisfying and absorbing films in a long time. It's a flick that will not be soon forgotten.
The beach starring leonardo dicaprio starts friday.
Also this week -
Scream 3
starring Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette and Jenny McCarthy
You'd think that Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) would have learned by now not to wander into that dark room by their lonesome after everyone they've known has been axed by a psychotic serial killer.
But what fun would Scream 3 be if any of them had wised up or gained any sense? Sydney, at least, has relocated to the boonies where the only thing that haunts her are ghostly visions of her deceased -- one of the film's central characters even though she is dead throughout (or is she?).
When the masked maniac comes to Hollywood and starts butchering members of the cast and crew of Stab 3 (the movie within the movie), Sydney decides 'why not try my luck at another game of "serial killer"' and joins her old friends in tinsletown.
Though we've grown used to some of the trilogy's now-repetitive pranks and know exactly when the killer's about to strike, Scream 3 will still make you jump a few times. Wes Craven's final chapter is nothing phenonemal, but horrifying enough at the right moments. Especially, and thankfully, because our beloved main characters are so damn stupid.
--Reviewed by Kevin Polowy