The problem is, the characters don't grab me, and the story meanders too much. With Backbeat, I recognize the craft used in making the film, I admire the intent, and I like the music. Ian Hart gives an amazingly energetic and powerful rendering of John Lennon. Other than having a somewhat variable accent, Stephen Dorff is fine as Stu Sutcliffe, and, excepting a single over-the-top scene, Twin Peaks' Sheryl Lee plays a credible Astrid. What makes it even more surprising that the characters have such little magnetism is that, for the most part, the actors portraying them do excellent jobs. Nevertheless, all the visual and audio flare, and the tremendous energy that goes with them, can't quite make up for those elements where the film is found lacking. It has the most thunderous soundtrack since that of The Commitments, and, if marketed right, will sell tons of CDs and tapes. Music - rock 'n roll in particular - saturates Backbeat. This is successful more often than not, but it could be argued that this method aids in further distancing the characters from the audience. Softley uses an almost-documentary style of filmmaking, complete with unusual camera angles and dark settings, to bring home the immediacy of his motion picture. When the film works, it's because the two purposes complement each other when it fails, it's because they are at odds. While Backbeat does, to some extent, fulfill both of these goals, it does neither to full advantage. Equally, however, it attempts to chronicle the development of the complex love affair between Stu Sutcliffe and Astrid Kirchherr, and how that romance affected the last years of Stuart's life. On one hand, Backbeat wants to recount the story of how the Beatles emerged from playing seedy German nightclubs to where they were poised on the brink of stardom. In fact, the script itself is not tightly-focused, although the lack of a strong lead character could in part be responsible for this. However, since director Iain Softley seems more interested in establishing tone and atmosphere than in creating vital personalities, he is unable to harness the full power of his story. ![]() I would have enjoyed Backbeat more if I had begun to feel something for any of the men or women populating this tale. The love affair between these two threatened the band's stability, and led to one of the most difficult decisions that Sutcliffe ever had to make. While in Hamburg, the group met Astrid Kirchherr (Sheryl Lee), a photographer who became especially fond of Sutcliffe. Lennon and Sutcliffe were best friends, and every time McCartney tried to oust the less-talented Sutcliffe from the band, Lennon threatened to leave as well. If nothing else, however, Stone usually gets his characters right, but the failure to create a compelling protagonist is this movie's greatest flaw.īack before anyone had heard of the Beatles, they were a group of five - John Lennon (Ian Hart), Paul McCartney (Gary Bakewell), George Harrison (Chris O'Neill), Pete Best (Scot Williams), and Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff) - playing clubs in Hamburg. Not only is Backbeat a story from "his" era, the early sixties, but it bears more than a passing resemblance to one of his own pictures, The Doors (although it should be noted that Backbeat moves a lot faster). We're gonna be too big for our own bloody good." The compelling triangular relationship between the band's original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, the striking German photographer Astrid Kirchherr whom he fell in love with, and his best friend John Lennon, became an intrinsic part of The Beatles' story – and put them on an unstoppable trajectory onto the world stage."We're gonna be too big for Hamburg. SynopsisĪ musical stage adaptation of Iain Softley's 1994 film.Ĭharting the rise of the 20th century's most iconic pop group from it's original line-up, the stage adaptation is co-written by Iain Softley and Stephen Jeffreys - after premiering in Glasgow in February 2010, the show is now coming the London.īackbeat tells the early story of The Beatles, when John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe embarked on their journey from the famous docks of Liverpool to search for success in the seedy red light district of Hamburg. ![]() Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto - 21 July 2012 – 2 September 2012.Īhmanson Theater, Los Angeles - 16 January 2013 – 24 February 2013. Stage adaptation co-written by Iain Softley and Stephen Jeffreys based on the 1994 film of the same nameĭuke of York’s Theatre, London - 24 September, 2011 – 18 February 2012.
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