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Backbeat
Starring Sheryl Lee and Stephen Dorff
Directed by Iain Softley
Review by Kennedy Weible
Long story short: there was a
guy in the Beatles who, as they became more popular, got really
into this chick, became artsy and weird, and eventually dropped
out of the Beatles. Oh, and it's not John.
The man was Stuart Sutcliffe. He was the best friend of John
Lennon, and the original bassist for the greatest band of all
time. Backbeat opens with Lennon and Sutcliffe screwing
around in a bar and getting into a fight, where Sutcliffe takes
a heavy shot to the head. Sutcliffe was an artist. He bought
his bass after selling his first painting. He joined the Beatles
more to appease his friend John than because he actually knew
how to play. This is early Beatles lore here. Hamburg territory
when the now-legends were playing covers in titty bars
and basically acting like teenagers in a rock band act. Drinking
too much, sleeping with well-built German girls, and grab-assing
around Germany. Then Astrid walked in.
Beatles enthusiasts will already know this story well. Here's
a recap for the rest of you. John on guitar and vocals, Paul
on guitar, George on guitar, a not-too-friendly fellow named
Pete Best on drums, and Stuart Sutcliffe on bass. Astrid (played
by knock-your-socks off Sheryl Lee fresh off of Twin Peaks)
slinks into the bar along with her German-gay-joke-stereotype
of a boyfriend, Klaus Voorman. Klaus takes an interest in the
Beatles, Astrid takes an interest in Sutcliffe, and also takes
some of the earliest pictures of the group. Klaus sets up some
meetings with producers that help the Beatles take off into the
sunset. Later in life he designed the Revolver cover,
and played bass on Lennon's "Imagine." But we're getting
ahead of ourselves. Astrid leaves Klaus for Sutcliffe, Sutcliffe
leaves the Beatles for Astrid. That's the gist.
What Backbeat shows, and shows with a tenderness that
sneaks up on you, is the tremolos of excitement that come from
having your best friend along as you realize your dream, and
the male-heartbreak of letting him go his own way alone. Sutcliffe
was never into being a musician. He was a painter who dropped
out of school because his buddy wanted to go to Hamburg and give
this whole rock and roll thing a go. As the saying goes: you
can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him a bass player.
Sutcliffe (played by Stephen Dorff back when Dorff was going
to be the next Ewan McGregor, before McGregor himself showed
up and did it better) blows off meetings with producers, shows,
and recordings. He only showed up for the now famous pictures
because Astrid was the one taking them. Lennon (played by Ian
Hart with a gracious maniacal-to-scathing-to-earnest force that
threatens to steal the film) rails at the thought of losing his
friend "to the SS" and no longer having him in the
band. But, as it goes with best friends, he lets him go in the
end. They each had their own mistress. Sutcliffe had Astrid,
Lennon had the Beatles. It was a bizarre love triangle
Astrid loved Sutcliffe and the Beatles, Lennon loved Sutcliffe
and the Beatles, and Sutcliffe loved Lennon and Astrid but couldn't
care less about the Beatles.
The heart of the film is the relationship between Lennon, Sutcliffe,
and Astrid, and the stings between them that they cut and tie.
But there is whimsy too. The young Beatles are campy, but because
they're so young you can forgive them for it. Lennon is raucous.
Paul is wagging about on stage, pitching and shaking as ever.
George is a geek. Pete Best well, who cares about Pete Best?
The music the movie-Beatles play was arranged and written by
the likes of Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Henry Rollins
(Black Flag, Henry Rollins Band), Mike Mills (R.E.M), and others.
The DVD is chock full of the usual DVD stuff: commentary, deleted
scenes, stills. The extra most worth watching is the interview
with the real-life Astrid, talking about the first time she saw
Sutcliffe, and the first time she saw the Beatles. Stills of
the original pictures she shot are included.
This is a movie you watch to see the guts of the story, not to
see the story itself, so it's all right if you know that Sutcliffe
died in 1962, a year before "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
catapulted the Beatles to international stardom. Eighteen years
later, John Lennon book-ended the Beatles career, and was shot.
Sutcliffe was Lennon first, before Lennon was, except that Lennon
lived long enough to become the Walrus. Before all that though,
and what makes Backbeat touching, is the picture of all
these people as kids sorting through love and friendship, the
way people do in songs.
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