It could have been a masterpice
Added 10/23/2009
I am glad I bought this movie. Like anyone else (and like any Beatles fan), I am willing and even anxious to see and understand the exact moment preceding the outburst of an incredible journey, especially The Beatles one. Also, the topic is particularly interesting: Stuart Sutckiffe's life and personality and especially his (oh so early) death gave that "tragic dimension" to the Beatles story, dimension which had a certain contribution to the rising myth and added some poignant enigma to the whole picture--ingredients that emphasized the impact on their addicted audiences.
Some of the achievements of this movie are its accuracy, faithfulness to reality and therefore good documentation. The atmosphere in the 1960-1962 Liverpool/Hamburg is well rendered, the screenplay is truthful, the sets and image are great (in some scenes, we recognize postures and mimic from the photographs taken by the German "exies" Astrid, Jürgen and Klaus--and I do not refer to the "pose to be photographed" scenes.) I particularly appreciated the Fab Four reconstruction: perfect, despite the physical non-resemblance (we forgive George's blue eyes, for instance). Their voices, posture and gestures on the stage are well-documented and strikingly well rendered. (One big exception: in real life, it's Paul who sings Long Tall Sally, not John!). The early Beatle sound is not reproduced but recreated to be better understood by us, not-so-contemporary audience. John's character is exceptionnaly well acted and seized, his violence, warmth, coldness, wit, cynicism, despair, raw force and strong will are consistent and intense. Well done!
The less convincing parts of the movie are the main characters: Stu (whose personality is vague, diluted, fuzzy, the actor being all the time à la recherche du personnage) and Astrid who is a caricature--poorly acted, posing, precious and boring. The love scenes are too long, out of focus and thus utterly unnecessary. It's a pity. This movie could have been a masterpiece.
I watch the movie now and then for the atmosphere, the Fab Four and the songs. I skip the Stu-Astrid scenes. Oh, well!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Worthwhile, with Ian Hart offering a low-key tour de force
Added 10/5/2009
Fans of the short-lived USA network trash treasure "Dirt" will have trouble connecting psychotic photographer Don Konkey with the soulful John Lennon in this film. It may even be enough to encourage a view of "Aberdeen," in which he gives a similarly-excellent performance.
"Backbeat" is a nice depiction of the Beatles' beginnings and, by no means coincidentally, their first exposure to the power of media, as Astrid's photos did much in 1963-1964 to establish the tough soulful qualities of the Fab Four. Much better than we had any right to expect, and it ages well, despite the fact that it was...gasp...46 years ago today when Johnnie Lennon got his band to play.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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I screwed up. I bought this DVD because a friend recommended the music. I should have read the ratings and was disappointed to all the find all the sexual content. I previewed the film in 16x speed and sure enough there was too much nudity for me to feel comfortable with. So I I trashed it.
No criticism of anyone except myself. I didn't do enough homework. Doh! mdv
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Where's The Story of Keith R. Bumming Cigs At Art College?
Added 9/4/2009
"Backbeat" covers the two minutes the Beatles were a rough-and-ready rock band -and in particular the relationship between Lennon(Ian Hart) and art school friend Stu Sutcliffe(Steven Dorff)- before they sold out and became family-friendly choirboys for mass acceptance. As such, it captures their scruffy Liverpool/Hamburg milieu well (if anyone wanted to know), and Lennon's early wit and verve before he became a navel-gazing acidhead and later megalomaniac inventor of peace. Except for some interesting painting sex scenes, Sutcliffe and German girlfriend Astrid (the as usual charmless Sheryl Lee) make a dull center for the film, and even Hart can't quite make this seem like a worthwhile use of celluloid (the film glides over the fact that Lennon once kicked Sutcliffe in the head during a scuffle and so probably caused the eventual hemmorage that killed him, but that's Instant Karma for ya).
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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back beat movie
Added 8/26/2009
Very disappointed in this product. The movie I know is great but I never got the opportunity to view it. they sent me a movie that plays only on european machines
I think it is called region 8 and we don't have those machines in American to speak of. So I wasted my money , Cant vie the movie and Amazon wouldn't give me a return. I wasn't very happy about this purshase and still am not. Dont buy it unless you are from Europe somewhere. Bummed out....
0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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It could have been a masterpice
Added 10/23/2009
I am glad I bought this movie. Like anyone else (and like any Beatles fan), I am willing and even anxious to see and understand the exact moment preceding the outburst of an incredible journey, especially The Beatles one. Also, the topic is particularly interesting: Stuart Sutckiffe's life and personality and especially his (oh so early) death gave that "tragic dimension" to the Beatles story, dimension which had a certain contribution to the rising myth and added some poignant enigma to the whole picture--ingredients that emphasized the impact on their addicted audiences.
Some of the achievements of this movie are its accuracy, faithfulness to reality and therefore good documentation. The atmosphere in the 1960-1962 Liverpool/Hamburg is well rendered, the screenplay is truthful, the sets and image are great (in some scenes, we recognize postures and mimic from the photographs taken by the German "exies" Astrid, Jürgen and Klaus--and I do not refer to the "pose to be photographed" scenes.) I particularly appreciated the Fab Four reconstruction: perfect, despite the physical non-resemblance (we forgive George's blue eyes, for instance). Their voices, posture and gestures on the stage are well-documented and strikingly well rendered. (One big exception: in real life, it's Paul who sings Long Tall Sally, not John!). The early Beatle sound is not reproduced but recreated to be better understood by us, not-so-contemporary audience. John's character is exceptionnaly well acted and seized, his violence, warmth, coldness, wit, cynicism, despair, raw force and strong will are consistent and intense. Well done!
The less convincing parts of the movie are the main characters: Stu (whose personality is vague, diluted, fuzzy, the actor being all the time à la recherche du personnage) and Astrid who is a caricature--poorly acted, posing, precious and boring. The love scenes are too long, out of focus and thus utterly unnecessary. It's a pity. This movie could have been a masterpiece.
I watch the movie now and then for the atmosphere, the Fab Four and the songs. I skip the Stu-Astrid scenes. Oh, well!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Worthwhile, with Ian Hart offering a low-key tour de force
Added 10/5/2009
Fans of the short-lived USA network trash treasure "Dirt" will have trouble connecting psychotic photographer Don Konkey with the soulful John Lennon in this film. It may even be enough to encourage a view of "Aberdeen," in which he gives a similarly-excellent performance.
"Backbeat" is a nice depiction of the Beatles' beginnings and, by no means coincidentally, their first exposure to the power of media, as Astrid's photos did much in 1963-1964 to establish the tough soulful qualities of the Fab Four. Much better than we had any right to expect, and it ages well, despite the fact that it was...gasp...46 years ago today when Johnnie Lennon got his band to play.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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I screwed up. I bought this DVD because a friend recommended the music. I should have read the ratings and was disappointed to all the find all the sexual content. I previewed the film in 16x speed and sure enough there was too much nudity for me to feel comfortable with. So I I trashed it.
No criticism of anyone except myself. I didn't do enough homework. Doh! mdv
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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