- Title: USA : WORLD PREMIERE OF LEONARDO DI CAPRIO'S LATEST FILM "THE BEACH"
- Date: 15th January 2000
- Summary: KAPALUA, HAWAII, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 15, 2000) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) LEONARDO DICAPRIO SAYING OF THE BEACH LOCATION, I think it completely embodied what, you know, Alex Garland, the author, wrote about when he was talking about like, this, you know, this tropical utopia that's like cocooned but sealed in this, you know, wall of rocks and, you know, completely
- Embargoed: 30th January 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KAPALUA, HAWAII AND LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAB3YV49Q234ASAKL2GBK8WLKSS
- Story Text: Marking his first starring role in a feature film since his star turn in "Titanic," Leonardo DiCaprio turned out at the World Premiere for his newest film "The Beach" on Wednesday, January 2 in Los Angeles.
Following his breakthrough role in the runaway blockbuster "Titanic," all of Hollywood and much of the world was wondering what film DiCaprio would chose as a follow-up.
The answer is director Danny Boyle's big screen adaptation of Alex Garland's best selling novel "The Beach."
In the film, DiCaprio plays a young American backpacker named Richard who travels to Thailand in search of an off-the-beaten track adventurous vacation and winds up with more than he bargained for.Soon after his arrival in Bangkok, he learns of a secret island with the perfect beach, unsullied by tourists and he decides to seek out the mythical location.
Going along with him on the quest are a young French couple staying in his run-down Bangkok hotel, played by French stars Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet.The rambling paranoid who tips Richard off to the island is playing by Robert Carlyle, who previously starred in Boyle's hit film "Trainspotting."
Once on the island, the three-some fall in with a small international community of perfection-seeking travelers like themselves living in secret.They are welcomed into the group and the island paradise becomes their home, sapping them of all will to return to the world they knew before.
But, of course, their paradise doesn't last forever.
"The Beach" made headlines last year when the production crew started shooting on the Thai island of Phi Phi Le, just off the larger island of Phuket.The crew claims to have gotten permission from the country's Royal Forestry Department to make some alterations to the island's beach, like planting 100 artificial coconut trees and leveling two sand dunes.
However, not long after production began, environmental protestors started rallying against the production, claiming it was destroying a pristine and as-yet-untouched wilderness.
They even went so far as to wear masks of the film's star DiCaprio during their protests.
Director Danny Boyle and his crew denies they destroyed the beach and claim to have actually improved the area by returning it to its pre-film set condition and cleaning up several tons of trash that were there when they arrived.
In the end, the crew filmed on Phi Phi Le, in the Khao Yai National Park, and in the urban center of Krabi, which doubled for Bangkok due to difficulties filming in the capital city.
"The Beach" opens in theaters throughout the United States on Friday, February 11 and its World Premiere is scheduled for Wednesday, February 2 in Los Angeles. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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