Customer Reviews
Film about the pre-fame Beatles - By: Kona, 11 Jun 2008 
"Back Beat" is about the early trials & tribulations of John Lennon & Stuart Sutcliffe, art students & rock musicians from Liverpool. They were scrappy trouble-makers when they formed the Beatles with Paul, George, & Pete Best & went to play in the shabby strip clubs of Hamburg, hoping to make a name for themselves. There, Stuart met & fell in love with photographer Astrid Kirchherr. Although he was very close to John, Stuart chose to leave the group & stay with Astrid, just before the Beatles released their first record.
John is well-played by Ian Hart (Quirrell in "Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone"). Being a native of Liverpool, Hart gets the accent right & conveys John's scruffy, irreverent attitude & love of music. American actor Stephen Dorff does a good job as the sensitive, doomed Stuart. None of the actors look much like their characters, but they do project a believable image of the group.
The songs (none of which are by Lennon-McCartney) were sung by members of established bands such as REM. The sleazy locations in Liverpool & Hamburg contribute to the rag-tag feeling of the movie. In spite of ample profanity & nudity, this is a movie that Beatles fans will enjoy, & the DVD has many interesting extras.
"Hello, Ladies and Genitals. We're the band!" - By: DangermouseZilla, 28 Feb 2008 
This film evoked a nostalgia in me, which might seem bizarre considering I was never around during the heyday of the Beatles, let alone the initial years. In fact, I was born the year John Lennon was shot. But as a teen, I idolised John Lennon & read every biography I could get my hands on - so the Beatles are very much part of my teen years.
Having read many a biography about Lennon & the Beatles as a band, I had a fair old knowledge about this period in the bands life, but the gaps I had were alll to do with Stuart Sutcliffe whom I knew little about, other than his love of art, & his relationship with Astrid.
The film is only 96 minutes long - so you can't expect a true historical account of the `Hamburg period', & this film is mainly concerned with the story of Sutcliffe. It's for those reasons that you more-or-less forgive the exclusion of McCartney & Harrison from the film - they are relegated, it seems, to extras, but here it doesn't matter. This is the largely untold story of the fifth Beatle.
Stephen Dorff does an admirable job as Stuart Sutcliffe, the likeness is uncanny. In fact, during the photo session with Astrid, the Stephen Dorff Sutcliffe looks as identical to the actual Sutcliffe in the real-life photos. Sometimes he struggles with the accent, but it doesn't detract much away from a good performance.
It's Ian Hart though who steals the show. His John Lennon often seems a like a caricature - his lines saturated with witty one liners, but this feels like the concentrated essence of Lennon. The energy he gives lifts the film, without it the feature would seem a bit flat. I've yet to see Ian Hart in a film where he fallls anything less than fantastic.
In a nutshell: This is a good film & does a great job of portraying the Beatles before they gained international fame. It would have been nice to have seen McCartney performing the lead vocals (especiallly for the songs he used to lead on!), but the film successfully tells the story of the man who stepped out of the limelight to follow his love of art, & the love of his life. After watching Ian Hart's high-octane youthful Lennon, the final text epilogue stating that John Lennon was shot dead in 1980 seems ultra poignant. The impact is heightened & you realise that the film was maybe more about Lennon than Sutcliffe for many of the viewers.
takes you along for the ride. - By: , 14 Jan 2006 Even though most people know some of the story of the Beatles, the acting & direction in this film will rivet you to your seat. Keep an eye out for Ian Hart (John Lennon), who also appears in Clockwork Mice & Hollow Reed. Arguably one of the most believable actors around.
The lost genius - By: , 19 May 2002 THE treatment of Stuart Sutcliffe is good, very good, although the rest of the fledgling Beatles look terrible - particularly the George Harrison & Pete Best characters.
Overalll, The Beatles are presented as a very loose set of relationships, John Lennon appears to hate everybody & while many biographies describe Lennon as a man with a twisted sense of humour, the kind of antics described in the Hunter Davis & Philip Norman biographies are missing completely. George & Paul are little more than extras much of the time which, as a devotee of history, grated rather a lot with me.
However, the film is about the relationship between Stu Sutcliffe & the beautiful Astrid Kirscher & this is dealt with sensitively & tenderness. Throughout, they are presented as beautiful people, made for each other but tragicallly torn apart.
Opening with Sutcliffe & Lennon being set upon by a bunch of Liverpool heavies, the die is cast for young Stu within five minutes, setting up the tragedy of this brilliant but humble & hugely likable young painter who keeps telling Lennon how great the Beatles are destined to be & seems quite happy to step aside & watch them rise to fame, happy to have stepped off the bandwaggon. Who knows, if Sutcliffe had lived he may have risen to similar heights himself in the art world. Perhaps the Sgt Pepper or Revolver album covers might have gone his way if he had been around to do them. . .
Musicallly, the film rocks from start to finish with excellent arrangements of classic Beatle covers & a recreation of the recording of My Bonnie with Tony Sheridan which actuallly comes out sounding much livlier than the original.
Although the Beatle history freak in me longs to see a film about the band in Hamburg, this is not a historical documentary. It's a film based on the tragic story of a Liverpool painter who was struck down far too young & the beautiful woman he loved - & who loved him. As a tale of tender love set against the backdrop of the Beatles in Hamburg, it's a fine film with a rocking soundtrack.
Wait a minute Mr Postman - By: , 13 Mar 2000 Before I saw this film I had no time for the Beatles, but it changed my feelings about them & their music for good. It's reallly the story of Stuart Sutcliffe, who formed part of the Beatles' original line-up, & his experiences in Hamburg in the early 1960's. In additional to playing a less & less significant role in the band over this period, Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff with a faultless Liverpool accent) matures as an experimental painter, strikes up a passionate relationship with Astrid Kirchner (Sheryl Lee - formerly Twin Peaks' Laura Palmer) & degenerates in mental health as he heads towards a brain haemorrhage. It's a sad story, but excellently acted & with an awesome, awesome soundtrack.
Ian Hart plays John Lennon (with a grouchy catchphrase, throughout the film, of 'It's alll dick') - he's brilliantly cast, as the actor looks so much like the singer! The soundtrack is made up of early Beatles hits ('Rock & Roll Music', 'Twist & Shout', 'Twenty Flight Rock') alll originallly recorded before the band started writing their own material. The difference here is that the songs are revitalised by 'The Backbeat Band', a one-off combination of grunge / rock artists such as Greg Gulli (Afghan Whigs), Dave Grohl (Nirvana / Foo Fighters) & Mike Mills (REM) & the new versions are alll fantastic. Get this video! Stuart Sutcliffe trivia: several of the artist's paintings were recently used as covers for Mansun's "Closed for Business" EPs.
