On B List of Movie Reviews
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The Beach (2000)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
10/19
10/19:
Leonardo DiCaprio gives a top two performance of his career in The Beach; the other is obviously
What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
Fresh, fun, tortuous, and engaging, it's been a journey, reminding me of the adventure that Sean Connery and Michael Caine
took in The Man Who Would Be King.
Leonardo DiCaprio's character meets a lunatic who tells him the existence of paradise at some unknown island before killing
himself. He thereafter sells the idea on two French tourists next to his room, and they both agree to go with him. They
arrive there which is actually a communal paradise that's eventually converted into an adult version of
Lord of the Flies.
I can understand the need to protect the secrecy of the island's location to keep out the stupid, obtrusive people, but there
are tens of thousands such islands all over the world. It can succeed either way, yet try to imagine living there without basic
necessities that we take for granted. Life will be quite hard; that's why I feel comfortable living in a stable home with
stores nearby, and all I have to do is drive a mile or two to get what I need. If I am hurt or sick, the doctor
is only a phone call away.
By the way, the island is called Koh Phi Phi Leh which is located in Maya Bay of Thailand. Unfortunately, the film studio
destroyed the natural vegetation permanently in attempts to make it more paradise-like. Thanks to
the popularity of The Beach, its tourism industry surged, resulting in severe damage to almost 80% of Thailand's coral reefs due to
beachfront hotels, boat anchors, and plastic waste dumped in sea. It's ironical considering what I said about these
"stupid, obtrusive people."
All in all, The Beach shows why utopia won't work.