Trailer
Plot summary
Stuart Sutcliffe, an art student in Liverpool, has joined his friend John Lennon's rock-and-roll group as its bass guitarist. Alongside Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best, the Beatles sail to Hamburg. There they are introduced to the Reeperbahn, the city's red-light district, play steady nights at the Kaiserkeller club, and sleep in the storeroom of the Bambi Kino cinema. They meet the German artist Klaus Voormann and take Preludin to stay awake through long sets. Klaus brings his girlfriend, the photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to hear the band, and she and Stu meet. Stu counts himself a painter first and falls in love with her.
Cast
- Marcelle Dupreyas Singer
- John Whiteas Sailor 1
- Bernard Merrickas Sailor 2
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Backbeat (1994)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The musicians were all members of contemporary American rock bands: Dave Grohl of Nirvana on drums, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth on guitar, Mike Mills of R.E.M. on bass, Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum singing Paul McCartney and Henry Rollins of Black Flag voicing Stuart Sutcliffe.
- At the time of release Paul McCartney complained that the film gave John the song "Long Tall Sally" to sing although he never sang it in his life, and that it did to the Beatles what The Buddy Holly Story did by not even mentioning Norman Petty. He was taken, though, with Stephen Dorff's performance as Stu.
- Astrid Kirchherr praised the film's accuracy and detail about her relationship with Sutcliffe and the Beatles; Julian Lennon and Pete Best also responded positively, and Sutcliffe's sister Pauline said, "I still think the director did a fabulous job. It's a good movie."
- The film's distributor, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, was then under common ownership with Polydor Records, the label that owned the rights to the Beatles' music from the Hamburg days.
- Iain Softley, the film's original writer and director, turned the screenplay into a theatrical production that premiered at Glasgow's Citizens' Theatre on 9 February 2010 featuring a live band.
