» The Beach

» Synopsis

In an age when all sensation seems to come digitally via the cell phone, video screen, pager and Internet, a young American backpacker named Richard yearns to experience something real. Arriving in Thailand with adventure on his mind, Richard rents a cheap hotel room in Bangkok where he meets an alluring French couple and Daffy, an old traveler ravaged by years of sun and drug abuse. Rambling and paranoid, Daffy tells Richard a tale of a secret island which he claims is a real paradise on Earth. The next day Richard finds a hand-drawn map pinned to his door of the island decribed by Daffy. When he seeks out Daffy, he finds him dead with his wrists slashed. Richard promptly persuades the French couple to find the beach and its secret community of travelers whose lives, on the surface, appear perfect and peaceful. However, Richard will soon learn what he has found is no paradise.

» Information

Director: Danny Boyle Writers: John Hodge (screenplay), Alex Garland (novel) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio ... Richard Virginie Ledoyen ... Francoise Tilda Swinton ... Sal Robert Carlyle ... Daffy Guillaume Canet ... Etienne Daniel York ... Hustler Patcharawan Patarakijjanon ... Hotel Receptionist Somboon Phutaroth ... Cleaning Woman Weeratham Wichairaksakul ... Detective Jak Boon ... Travel Agent Peter Youngblood Hills ... Zeph Jerry Swindall ... Sammy Krongthong Thampradith ... Woman With Key Released on: 2 February 2000 (premiere)

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» Trivia

During filming, a boat accident endangered the life of several crew members, including director Danny Boyle and Leonardo DiCaprio. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.

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.

Ewan McGregor was Danny Boyle's first choice to play the part of Richard. The studio wanted Leonardo DiCaprio and cast him before Boyle could intervene. While McGregor blames the studio, he has reportedly not spoken to Boyle since.

Two of the beaches (Ko Phi Phi Leh and Phuket in Thailand) where this was filmed were affected by the Indian Ocean Tsunami on 26 December 2004.

During the filming of the movie the film crew remodeled and flattened the beach using a tractor, making it unstable. The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 allowed the beach to be naturally restored to its previous state, much to the relief of the locals.

The videogame recreation scene in the jungle was inspired upon the game 'Banjo-Kazooie (1998)', developed by Rare Ltd., according to Danny Boyle.

The map that Daffy gives to Richard was made by the book's author Alex Garland.

The phrase "Sutra cu putovati mnogo milja biciklom" uttered by Sonja (played by Zelda Tinska) in the movie, is Serbian for "Tomorrow I will travel many miles on a bicycle."