Backbeat (film)
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| Backbeat | |
|---|---|
 UK film poster |
|
| Directed by | Iain Softley |
| Produced by | Finola Dwyer Stephen Woolley |
| Written by | Iain Softley Michael Thomas Stephen Ward |
| Starring | Sheryl Lee Stephen Dorff Ian Hart |
| Music by | Don Was |
| Cinematography | Ian Wilson |
| Editing by | Martin Walsh |
| Distributed by | PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (now Universal Studios) |
| Release date(s) | 14 April 1994 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Backbeat is a 1994 movie that chronicles the early days of The Beatles in Hamburg, Germany. The movie focuses primarily on the relationship between Stuart Sutcliffe (played by Stephen Dorff) and John Lennon (played by Ian Hart), and also with Sutcliffe's German girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr (played by Sheryl Lee).
The movie is generally more accurate, both about Sutcliffe's life and the early Beatles history, than the 1979 TV movie Birth of the Beatles, which covers mostly the same period. It also has a darker, more detailed storyline, and The Beatles history as such, is background to the main story.
The film is based on the book The Real Life Story Behind Backbeat - Stuart Sutcliffe: The Lost Beatle by Alan Clayson and Pauline Sutcliffe (ISBN 0330335804, 1994).
Paul McCartney, however, was not impressed with the movie, stating: "One of my annoyances about the film Backbeat is that they've actually taken my rock 'n' rollness off me. They give John the song "Long Tall Sally" to sing and he never sang it in his life. But now it's set in cement. It's like the Buddy Holly and Glenn Miller stories. The Buddy Holly Story does not even mention Norman Petty, and The Glenn Miller Story is a sugarcoated version of his life. Now Backbeat has done the same thing to the story of The Beatles."
The soundtrack to the movie includes no songs written by members of the Beatles, but various songs the group performed in Hamburg, written and recorded by other artists.
Rather than re-create the period sounds, iconoclastic, rebellious musicians were recruited (as a producer noted, The Beatles' pre-recording stage act was "the punk of its day"). This was done to better convey the way the music came across to the audience, at the time. The musicians were all members of well-known American rock bands:
- Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum): vocals
- Greg Dulli (The Afghan Whigs): vocals
- Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth): guitar
- Don Fleming (Gumball): guitar
- Mike Mills (R.E.M.): bass guitar
- Dave Grohl (Nirvana): drums
Additionally, the film's distributor, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, was then under common ownership with the label which owned the rights to release and distribute the Beatles' music from the Hamburg days, Polydor Records.
[edit] Main Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Stephen Dorff | Stuart Sutcliffe |
| Sheryl Lee | Astrid Kirchherr |
| Ian Hart | John Lennon |
| Gary Bakewell | Paul McCartney |
| Chris O'Neill | George Harrison |
| Paul Duckworth | Ringo Starr |
| Scot Williams | Pete Best |
| Kai Wiesinger | Klaus Voorman |
| Jennifer Ehle | Cynthia Powell |
| Wolf Kahlar | Bert Kaempfert |
| James Doherty | Tony Sheridan |
Hart also played Lennon in the film The Hours and Times.[1] Bakewell later reprised his role as McCartney in the television film The Linda McCartney Story, as Williams again played Best in the television movie In His Life: The John Lennon Story.
[edit] References
- ^ The Hours and Times Retrieved 29 January 2007
[edit] External links
- Backbeat at the Internet Movie Database
- DVD Journal review
- Movie stills
- Trailer for the film Backbeat
- A description of "Backbeat"
- A "Backbeat" description
