Backbeat (film)
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| Backbeat | |
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 UK film poster |
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| 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 |
Backbeat is a 1994 film that chronicles the early days of The Beatles in Hamburg, Germany. The film 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).
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[edit] Production
The film is based on interviews conducted by the writer/director Iain Softley with Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus Voormann in the spring of 1988.
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
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] Response
Paul McCartney 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.[2]
[edit] Backbeat at the Citizens' Theatre
Re-imagined for the stage by the original writer and director of the 1994 film, Iain Softley, Backbeat opens at the Citizens' Theatre on 9th February 2009. The world premiere of a new stage version of the film, featuring a live band.
[edit] References
- ^ The Hours and Times, IMDb.com, Retrieved 29 January 2007
- ^ Backbeat
[edit] External links
- Backbeat at the Internet Movie Database
- DVD Journal review by Mark Bourne
- Trailer for the film Backbeat
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