The Beach (film)

Development

Alex Garland's novel The Beach was published in 1996 and became a success in the United Kingdom.^[2] Director Danny Boyle and producer Andrew Macdonald bought the rights to the book using their salaries from their 1997 film A Life Less Ordinary.^[3] In August 1997, Boyle, Macdonald and screenwriter John Hodge went to Thailand, specifically Ko Samui, to scout for locations and get into the mindset of the book.^[4]

Ewan McGregor, a frequent collaborator of Boyle's and Macdonald's, believed he would be cast in the lead role, but was ultimately not chosen. The decision contributed to a rift between McGregor and Boyle.^[5] It was speculated that Boyle was offered additional funding under the condition that the character of Richard be rewritten to be American and played by a bigger name actor.^[5][6] Whilst promoting T2 Trainspotting on The Graham Norton Show, the dispute between the two was discussed in more depth, with McGregor stating, "It was a mis-handling and a mis-understanding over the film and it's a big regret of mine that it went on for so very long... and it didn't matter about The Beach, it was never about that. It was about our friendship. I felt like Danny's actor and it made me a bit rudderless." Boyle stated, "I handled it very very badly and I have apologised to Ewan for it. I felt a great shame about it and how it was handled."^[7]

Leonardo DiCaprio, who was coming off of the massive box-office success of Titanic, had his pick of lead roles in various films, including American Psycho^[8] and The Talented Mr. Ripley.^[9] Boyle sought DiCaprio for the role, and after months of deliberation, DiCaprio signed on to the film in July 1998.^[10][11][12] DiCaprio chose the project because he felt the novel's themes about disaffection and discovery spoke to his generation, saying, "We've never had anything to fight for, so we're constantly looking for things to believe in. Richard...is so influenced by the media and television and especially films that he's constantly searching for an emotional event in real time. In a world where everything conforms to our comfort, the only valuable things are those that go beyond anticipation. I think that this is what Richard is looking for, a world beyond anticipation."^[11] DiCaprio was paid a $20 million salary.^[13]

A major change the film adaptation made to the book is the ending, which in the novel is much darker.^[14] Boyle later said he wanted the film to be more critical of its unlikable characters, a "sociocritique of these invaders", but the big-budget studio nature of the film necessitated more sympathetic characters, a romantic subplot, and a more upbeat ending.^[15][16]

Filming

Filming took place from January to April 1999.^[4] Members of the cast and crew were involved in an accident during production when a long-tail boat they were on capsized.^[17] It was reported the incident involved both Boyle and DiCaprio. No one was injured.^[18]

The beach seen in the film is not the same as in real life. There is a gap between mountains on the actual beach in Thailand.^[4] The special effects crew digitally added some of the surrounding mountains during the post-production phase.^[3]

The waterfall scene, where DiCaprio and others jump from a high cliff to the water below, was filmed in Khao Yai National Park in central Thailand, at the Haew Suwat Waterfall.^[19][20]

The map in the film was illustrated by Alex Garland, the author of the novel The Beach. He received credit for this as the cartographer.^[3] Interior scenes of the fleabag hotel at which Richard stays in the film's beginning were shot at the On On Hotel in Phuket.^[21]

In 1999, Hélène de Fougerolles auditioned for the film, but casting directors immediately told her she was not mysterious enough for the character when she arrived with blonde hair in pigtails. She asked them if she could "be an extra or serve coffees there, three months in Thailand, it sounds idyllic!". Although firstly reluctant because the actress was already established in the industry, they finally accepted. As journalists were not allowed to take pictures on set, the only picture the press could have of Guillaume Canet and Virginie Ledoyen before shooting started was their departure at Paris Aéroport with de Fougerolles. The photo made the cover of Studio magazine, from which the international press reported her as officially cast. This eventually ended with her lines edited from the final cut but present in the DVD extras.^[22]

Track listing

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Box office

The film opened on 11 February 2000 in both the United Kingdom and the United States.^[30] The film opened at number 2 at the box office in both countries (behind Scream 3), with a weekend gross of $15,277,921 in the United States and Canada, and a gross of £2,418,321 ($3.9 million) in the United Kingdom and Ireland, behind Toy Story 2.^[30]

The following weekend, it opened in seven other countries (Austria, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, South Africa and Switzerland) and Puerto Rico, opening at number 1 in those markets (with a gross of $4.9 million in its first five days in France and $2.3 million in its opening four-day weekend in Germany).^[31]

Global takings totalled $144.1 million, of which $39 million was from the United States and Canada and $19 million from the United Kingdom.^[1][32][33] The budget for the film was $50 million.^[15]

Home media

The film has been released on VHS and DVD. It was released on Blu-ray in Spain in October 2022.^[34] The standard DVD release includes nine scenes that were deleted from the film, including an alternative opening that, to an extent, resembles the novel.^{[citation needed]} These were included in a "Special Edition" DVD release, with Danny Boyle's commentary on what might have been their purpose. There is also an alternative ending that depicts Sal dying by suicide and everyone loading a boat from the raft.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 21% of 122 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Critics say The Beach is unfocused and muddled, a shallow adaptation of the novel it is based on. Points go to the gorgeous cinematography, though."^[35] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[36] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on a scale of A+ to F.^[37]

Critics suggested DiCaprio's post-Titanic fame might have contributed to the financial success of this film, which came out less than three years after the James Cameron blockbuster. CNN's Paul Clinton said, "Leonardo DiCaprio's main fan base of screaming adolescent girls won't be disappointed with The Beach. The majority of the film displays the titanic-sized young heartthrob sans his shirt in this story about the pseudo-angst and alienation of a young man from the United States escaping civilization and his computer-obsessed generation." He agreed with most others that The Beach was "nothing to write home about".^[38]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said the film missed out on exploring the darker themes of the novel. He wrote, "Watching The Beach is like experiencing a script conference where only sequences are discussed--never the whole film...There are the elements here for a romantic triangle, for a man-against-the-jungle drama, for a microcosm-of-civilization parable or for a cautionary lesson about trying to be innocent in a cruel world...and that's material for satire or insight, I guess, although the movie offers none."^[39]

In a positive review, Wesley Morris of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Despite a flat finale and some laughable hypothesizing about pursuits of liberty, the movie has its own addictive elements: well-used electronica, Darius Khondji's photography and the nonstop charisma of its star."^[40]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised DiCaprio's performance, writing, "DiCaprio delivers strongly, showing Richard as selfish, manipulative, cowardly and dangerously naive — all of which makes the young man’s hard-won maturity...more affecting."^[41]

The film has gained retrospective praise, with critics singling out Boyle's visual flourishes, Khondji's cinematogaphy, and DiCaprio's choice to make an unconventional, commercially risky film at the height of Leo-mania.^[42][43] Writing for The Atlantic, Joe Reid said, "Positioned squarely between the boyishness of his 1990s work and the calcified smugness of his Scorsese-and-beyond adult period, The Beach sits at a fascinating crossroads of youth and respectability for [DiCaprio]. His performance pulls from all corners of his arsenal; it's sexy and brave and wild-eyed and, eventually, exceedingly vulnerable. I can't say whether it was the failure of The Beach that did it, but DiCaprio has never been this adventurous on screen since. And he's certainly never been this risky when it comes to selecting projects."^[44]

In 2025, director Danny Boyle admitted his problems with the film, "Everybody [during production] was having parties and there were all sorts of goings on. They were all out in Thailand on per diems and everybody was having a wild time. For me it was just like I was struggling uphill the whole time."^[45]

Accolades

Damage to filming location

Controversy arose during the making of the film due to 20th Century Fox's bulldozing and landscaping of the natural beach setting of Ko Phi Phi Le to make it more "paradise-like".^[21] The production altered some sand dunes and cleared some coconut trees and grass to widen the beach. Fox set aside a fund to reconstruct and return the beach to its natural state; however, lawsuits were filed by environmentalists who believed the damage to the ecosystem was permanent and restoration attempts had failed.^[51] Following shooting of the film, there was a clear flat area at one end of the beach that was created artificially with an odd layout of trees that was never rectified, and the entire area remained damaged from the original state until the tsunami of 2004.^[52]

The lawsuits dragged on for years. In 2006, Thailand's Supreme Court upheld an appellate court ruling that the filming had harmed the environment and ordered damage assessments be made. Defendants in the case included 20th Century Fox and some Thai government officials.^[53]

The large increase in tourist traffic to the beach as a result of the film resulted in environmental damage to the bay and the nearby coral reefs, prompting Thai authorities to close the beach in 2018.^[54]

The restoration period for the bay was lengthened due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Blacktip sharks began breeding there again. In 2022, the bay reopened to tourists under strict protocols of no boats, no swimming and no more than a one-hour visit per person for a limited number of visitors at a time.^[55]

Portrayal of Thailand

After the film premiered in Thailand in 2000, some Thai politicians were upset by the way Thailand was depicted in the film and called for it to be banned. The depiction of the drug culture was said to give Thailand a bad image and having a statue of Buddha in a bar was cited as "blasphemous".^[56]