Backbeat is a 1994 British biographical drama film directed and co-written by Iain Softley in his feature directorial debut. It chronicles the early days of the Beatles in Hamburg, West Germany, focusing primarily on the relationship between Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff) and John Lennon (Ian Hart), and also with Sutcliffe's German girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr (Sheryl Lee).
The film was produced by Channel Four Films and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, and was released in the UK on 1 April 1994. It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, though was well received by the real-life Beatles and Kirchherr. It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States, opening on 15 April. A DVD version was released by Universal in 2005.
Box office
The film grossed £25,912 in its opening weekend from one screen in London, finishing in seventh place at the London box office. It expanded to 211 screens in the UK the following week and grossed £433,669, finishing in fourth place at the UK box office. In the United States, it opened in 10 theatres and grossed $126,740 in its opening weekend. The following weekend it expanded to 209 theatres and moved up to 18th place at the US box office with a gross of $617,993. It went on to gross $2.4 million in the United States and Canada. In its opening week in Australia, it grossed $136,000 from 50 screens.
Reception
Critical response
Backbeat holds a rating of 70% based on 40 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the review aggregator site. The site's consensus states, "Its overly pretentious and melodramatic leanings notwithstanding, Backbeat explores the beginnings of the Fab Four with striking authenticity, soaring rock 'n' roll verve, and a strong admiration for its subjects." Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars; although he thought the "dialogue has real wit", he felt the film is "never able to convince us there's a story there". David Bleiler, writing for the TLA Film and Video Guide, gave the film a score of four stars, praising the performances of Lee, Hart, and Dorff, and writing: "Though the many musical sequences are thrilling and have a life of their own, they are only a small part of the film's success, and these scenes are smartly complimented by bristling characterizations and finely tuned dramatics."
The Beatles and others
At the time of the film's release, Paul McCartney commented:<blockquote>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. I was quite taken, however, with Stephen Dorff's astonishing performance as Stu.</blockquote>
Astrid Kirchherr praised the accuracy and detail of her relationship with Sutcliffe and the Beatles. The film received further positive responses from Julian Lennon, Pete Best, and Sutcliffe's sister, Pauline, who said, "I still think the director did a fabulous job. It's a good movie. If you like movies, it's a great movie."
Stage adaptations
The film's original writer and director, Iain Softley, turned the screenplay of Backbeat into a theatrical production. It premiered at Glasgow's Citizens' Theatre on 9 February 2010 featuring a live band. In 2011 another stage version opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in London.
See also
- Birth of the Beatles, a 1979 biopic covering the early years of the pre-fame Beatles.
- Nowhere Boy, a 2009 biopic focusing on the life of young John Lennon and the formation of The Quarrymen.