posted by admin on Nov 30
The Beach — The film-makers for The Beach scouted locations in Phi Phi Le island (Maya Bay) southern Thailand,
Plot
Leo’s character Richard is a restless American searching for adventure in Thailand. He hears of an island paradise commonly held to be urban legend.
According to rumor the island is a secret community of travelers who have left behind their former lives. Richard initially dismisses the island’s existence, but later meets Daffy (Robert Carlyle), who identifies himself as a former inhabitant and gives Richard a map. Shortly afterward, Daffy commits suicide. Once Richard and his friends make it to the island, the story branches out in several directions and struggles to find sufficient character conflict to fuel the movie’s feeble message.
One minute, Richard is steeling his French friend’s girlfriend, the next, he is whisked away on a supply buying trip with Sal, the next, he is enacting a strange commando video-game with the machine gun carrying marijuana farmers. Instead of deriving its punch from the one-on-one conflict between Richard and the dogmatic Sal, the story relies on boring narration, which takes away the little thrill and insight the movie manages to develop. The juxtaposition of the pure surroundings and the gradual revelation of horrific human nature as both Sal and Richard degrade into obsession shows how no place is far enough away, or pure enough, or beautiful enough to forever hide human flaws. The desperate hold on an ideal lifestyle, and the mood making that masks selfishness and possessiveness with sweet delusion, must eventually erupt into tragedy. Unfortunately, even the impact of tragedy that emerges with full force from the character conflicts is stripped of its power by the meaningless cute ending. Watch the beach movie>>
