Director: Danny Boyle
Release Date: 2000
Running Time: 1hr 59 minutes
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 15
Synopsis:
Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map, rumours state that it leads to a beach paradise, a tropical bliss. Excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.
Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Alex Garland. Director Danny Boyle releases one of his best films to date! Backpacker Richard embarks on an adventure to Thailand, in the hope that he can find something different. A lot of people relate to the storyline because of it's adventurous intentions. We all have dreams and desires of travelling the world and finding paradise. One of very few films to be almost identical to the novel, with only one or two changes made. Beautifully narrated by Leonardo Dicaprio, director Danny Boyle really allows audiences to come along for the adventure by allowing us to feel a part of it. Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" was directed very much in the same way, with Ewan McGregor's character Renton narrating the story.
Leonardo Dicaprio stars as backpacker Richard, a young man in his twenties who is desperate to find something new. On his journey through Thailand he encounters a troubled man named Daffy (Carlyle) who claims to have a map to a secret beach located in the Gulf of Thailand. Little does he know that Daffy has come from this paradise. Soon finding himself in the arms of the map, Richard decides to embark on a quest to find it along with backpapers Etienne and Francoise. Dicaprio delivers an exceptionally good performance as Richard. Rumour has it that Danny Boyle originally wanted Ewan McGregor in the role of Richard. The decision to have an American actor works significantly better. Dicaprio matches the description of Richard in the novel perfectly.
The storyline primarily focuses on the characters relationships. The story begins very innocently as the film goes on the story becomes increasingly more and more darker. The island they have encountered is not the beach they were promised. Running into Thai farmers who own several Cannabis fields, they soon find themselves in serious danger. Author Alex Garland really knew how to build his story, to trap his audience, you really go on an emotional journey with these characters, Richard, Etienne and Francoise soon adapt to their culture, their way of life, forgetting the outside world.
Robert Carlyle's performance as Daffy is magnificent, an incredibly versatile actor and probably these days a very uncredited actor. His character adds great significance to the story, despite Daffy having no more than about twenty minutes of screen time. It was never disclosed in the novel as to why several of the characters had nicknames based on Looney Tunes characters. Is this their way of adding a little bit of normality to their life, reminding them of what could be waiting in the outside world? Supporting actors, Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet offer good performances, raining in on their French authenticity. Tilda Swinton delivers a very strong performance as beach leader Sal.
At the time of production, Phi Phi Leh Island, did not have the same popularity that it has now. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. It's unfortunate that the film suffered some controversy after it's release in terms of how bad they left the island after production wrapped. Thankfully mother nature intervened with the devastating tsunami of 2004, it ironically restored the island back to it's natural look. Audiences were led to believe that only a few changes were made by CGI, however in reality a lot of unnatural plant life were added to the beach to make it look more authentic. Wonderfully edited, each scene beautifully flows into the next. The soundtrack should not be overlooked, it brings just as much emotion with it as the characters do. Moby, Leftfield and Unkle all made it into the film. Each song works brilliantly in the scenes in which they are used. Bringing the film to life. It's just as good as the novel. Excellent.
5/5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment