Post by Panther on Apr 18, 2014 21:28:35 GMT -5
What did y'all think of 'Backbeat' (1994)? I hadn't seen it for about 17 years, and I watched it two days ago.
It still holds up as a nice movie (good reviews and so on), and the photography and performances are great, although watching it now I found the depiction of the Kaiserkeller and Hamburg in general much too 'clean' and bright to be believed... I suspect the venue was much danker than the movie made it out, and Hamburg looked like a clean 1990s European city, but should have shown more of its (fairly) recent war past. For some reason, I really noticed this.
The story, of course, is an interpretation of the John-Stu-Astrid triangle, in particular, from August 1960 to Stu's death in spring 1962.
Knowing things I do now (that I didn't then), a few inevitable inconsistencies with reality spring up on this later viewing. The thrust of the story is that John desperately didn't want Stuart to leave The Beatles, and in the film Astrid suggests that he (John) was somewhat in love with Stu. Naturally, the film goes whole-hog in showing Paul scheming to get rid of Stuart (Paul never comes off well in these films). In the film, Astrid suggests that John is jealous of her because of her role in Stuart's life.
It's probably conceivable that John was a little 'jealous' of the role of Astrid in Stuart's life, but the depiction of John doing everything to keep Stuart in the band against Paul's (and Stuart's own) wishes, is quite false. A mountain of evidence suggests that John was fine with Stuart leaving, and also that John used to pick on Stu quite a bit as well (not that they don't have run-ins and even a fight in the film, but we don't see John belittling Stuart personally as he likely did).
As these films are 'dumbed down' for mass audiences, the fairly accurate chronology early in the story gives way to fiction near the end. In the film, The Beatles have made a hit single (with a picture sleeve, no less) when they return to Hamburg in spring 1962 to find Stuart dead. The movie depicts them as 'stars' already at this stage, which they weren't. The film also shows Astrid (literally) walking out of their lives -- as The Beatles perform on stage, Astrid slowly walks away and disappears into the big crowd. In reality, of course, she stayed in close contact with them through at the least the mid-60s (she was present during the filming of 'A Hard Day's Night') and remains friendly with them today. Klaus of course offered to be The Beatles' bassist, and later moved to London and even joined Mannfred Man, eventually 'joining' The Plastic Ono Band (the movie does mention this at its end).
On that note, Klaus is depicted as 'faggy' and effeminate, which means they were probably conflating the real Klaus with Jürgen Vollmer (who was actually 'faggy'). Also, for some reason I can't figure out, the film shows Tony Sheridan (in the studio near Hamburg to cut 'My Bonnie') as a much older, 'old-school' entertainer-type crooner, instead of a young rock'n'roller as he was. Oh, and one more -- the first trip to Hamburg is shown as The Beatles getting on a ship in Liverpool to sail (!) there, which they never did.
Despite a few inconsistencies and the rather unlikely scenario of John's desperately trying to keep Stuart in the band, Backbeat is an enjoyable film. Some young-Beatle episodes are related very well, and the film really shines in the intimate dramatic scenes between John/Stu, Stu/Astrid, John/Astrid. The episode (in summer 1961) when Cynthia Powell (and also Dot Rhone) came to Hamburg to see the guys is really good here, as we see scenes of John-Cyn / Stu-Astrid all together at the beach. These scenes are outstanding.
The music in the film is all done by various 90's alt-rockers, but as such is fairly good, hard-hitting and powerful.
What did you think of this movie?
It still holds up as a nice movie (good reviews and so on), and the photography and performances are great, although watching it now I found the depiction of the Kaiserkeller and Hamburg in general much too 'clean' and bright to be believed... I suspect the venue was much danker than the movie made it out, and Hamburg looked like a clean 1990s European city, but should have shown more of its (fairly) recent war past. For some reason, I really noticed this.
The story, of course, is an interpretation of the John-Stu-Astrid triangle, in particular, from August 1960 to Stu's death in spring 1962.
Knowing things I do now (that I didn't then), a few inevitable inconsistencies with reality spring up on this later viewing. The thrust of the story is that John desperately didn't want Stuart to leave The Beatles, and in the film Astrid suggests that he (John) was somewhat in love with Stu. Naturally, the film goes whole-hog in showing Paul scheming to get rid of Stuart (Paul never comes off well in these films). In the film, Astrid suggests that John is jealous of her because of her role in Stuart's life.
It's probably conceivable that John was a little 'jealous' of the role of Astrid in Stuart's life, but the depiction of John doing everything to keep Stuart in the band against Paul's (and Stuart's own) wishes, is quite false. A mountain of evidence suggests that John was fine with Stuart leaving, and also that John used to pick on Stu quite a bit as well (not that they don't have run-ins and even a fight in the film, but we don't see John belittling Stuart personally as he likely did).
As these films are 'dumbed down' for mass audiences, the fairly accurate chronology early in the story gives way to fiction near the end. In the film, The Beatles have made a hit single (with a picture sleeve, no less) when they return to Hamburg in spring 1962 to find Stuart dead. The movie depicts them as 'stars' already at this stage, which they weren't. The film also shows Astrid (literally) walking out of their lives -- as The Beatles perform on stage, Astrid slowly walks away and disappears into the big crowd. In reality, of course, she stayed in close contact with them through at the least the mid-60s (she was present during the filming of 'A Hard Day's Night') and remains friendly with them today. Klaus of course offered to be The Beatles' bassist, and later moved to London and even joined Mannfred Man, eventually 'joining' The Plastic Ono Band (the movie does mention this at its end).
On that note, Klaus is depicted as 'faggy' and effeminate, which means they were probably conflating the real Klaus with Jürgen Vollmer (who was actually 'faggy'). Also, for some reason I can't figure out, the film shows Tony Sheridan (in the studio near Hamburg to cut 'My Bonnie') as a much older, 'old-school' entertainer-type crooner, instead of a young rock'n'roller as he was. Oh, and one more -- the first trip to Hamburg is shown as The Beatles getting on a ship in Liverpool to sail (!) there, which they never did.
Despite a few inconsistencies and the rather unlikely scenario of John's desperately trying to keep Stuart in the band, Backbeat is an enjoyable film. Some young-Beatle episodes are related very well, and the film really shines in the intimate dramatic scenes between John/Stu, Stu/Astrid, John/Astrid. The episode (in summer 1961) when Cynthia Powell (and also Dot Rhone) came to Hamburg to see the guys is really good here, as we see scenes of John-Cyn / Stu-Astrid all together at the beach. These scenes are outstanding.
The music in the film is all done by various 90's alt-rockers, but as such is fairly good, hard-hitting and powerful.
What did you think of this movie?