1. The Beach (2000) Changes Its Protagonist; Undermines The Entire Book In The Process
If you've ever been to Thailand, chances are that you've seen somebody lying sideways on a hammock with their head buried in a tatty copy of Alex Garland's brilliant novel The Beach, which has become required reading for backpackers everywhere. Though most readers consider The Beach as a novel that glamourises backpacking, Garland's intention was quite different: the book was supposed to offer a cynical view of the culture, arguing against many of its conceits. Narrated by the very English Richard, The Beach tells the story of a backpacker who stumbles upon a secret society hidden away on a remote island in Thailand. Leonardo DiCaprio ending up playing Richard in the film version, beating out a better-suited Ewan McGregor for the role, a decision which proved to be one of the most - if not
the most - poisonous elements inherent to its downfall as a motion picture. The novel, masterfully told in Richard's voice, is believable for that reason alone: we accept the main scenario as plausible simply because Richard does. He's grown up on video games, Vietnam war movies and dope, to the point where they influence his take on reality - enough to have us believe that he would be drawn into such a thing, anyway. DiCaprio's interpretation of this character is so different that it unhinges the movie from the ideas at the centre of the novel: the first time we see him, he's drinking snake blood with the locals in Bangkok. He's switched on. The Richard of the novel starts out with his head down, nervous of such scenarios. DiCaprio's Richard knows too much and is far too aware of his surroundings, whereas - in the book - it was essential for our protagonist to be unworldly and to feel alien - as a result, we get a situation that feels ill-matched to our character in the movie, when all the points that Garland put forward in the book come attached to his own version of Richard: somebody who slowly begins to lose their grip. DiCaprio's grip on things is never made clear. As such, the movie fails to tap into anything interesting because it has no doorway, and feels shallow as a result.
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