Paul says at one point, “If it comes to a choice between us and her, he’s going with her,” but that’s pretty much the extent of it. ![]() This is also pretty counter to how it’s always portrayed historically. She’s really not intrusive at all, and the other members don’t seem to mind her presence. As for Yoko herself, she is annoying at times when they give her the mic, but outside of that, while she’s omnipresent, she says almost nothing and stays out of the way. You can also see that Yoko is becoming (if she hasn’t already become) the most important thing in his life. I wouldn’t describe him as uninterested (which, like George, is often how he’s portrayed historically), but he’s definitely not the leader of the group at this point. He even seems intimidated by Paul at times. John, on the other hand, comes across as surprisingly deferential. He has his down moments, but when he’s there, he’s very much there and involved in the ideas, offering his own opinions, and caring about it all. George is probably the second most engaged and assertive after Paul, which I found quite surprising considering that he’s often portrayed as pretty uninterested in The Beatles at this point and not really engaged in what they were doing. Lindsay-Hogg’s choices for what to include (and not to include) in Let It Be left out a ton of joy, friendship, and love, all of which were still very much present. The others may have resented him for it at times, but clearly it was needed. Yet without his assuming that role and pushing things forward, you can tell nothing would have happened. However, he’s also clearly uncomfortable in that role, and very self-conscious about it. ![]() It’s interesting to observe that Paul clearly had the most arrangement talent and vision, and was the most dominant member of the band at this point. There is a ton of messing around during the sessions, but little by little you can hear the songs coming together. In many ways, Jackson’s doc restores the original intent of the project, which was to film the writing of an entire album of 14 songs during 21 days in January 1969 and then perform and record it live in front of an audience - in less than a month, start to finish. But the good moments far outweigh the bad. To be sure, there are arguments, dour faces at times, and one member quits for a few days (which isn’t shown in the original film). ![]() Lindsay-Hogg’s choices for what to include (and not to include) in his film left out a ton of joy, friendship, and love, all of which were still very much present during this period, as we discover through Peter Jackson’s new documentary. I say “myth,” because the Jackson documentary proves that both the former Beatles’ memories and the decades of historical discourse are largely mistaken, perhaps colored by the film itself and the breakup that happened around the same time as the film’s release. That film, along with multiple interviews from the former Beatles over the years, led to the myth that the Let it Be sessions were a largely miserable affair. This documentary is culled from 60 hours of film footage and 150 hours of audio originally intended for what became director Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 film Let it Be. There is, however, a great deal of real, honest-to-goodness magic.Ī little background is in order here. When I heard that Peter Jackson, the Oscar-winning director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, was going to be making a Beatles documentary, my first thought was, “I hope there aren’t too many hobbits!” Three years later, I’ve just finished watching the resulting epic three-part documentary, The Beatles: Get Back, on Disney+, and I’ll set your mind at ease: although the overall runtime is damn near as long as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, there are no hobbits, wizards, dragons, or other fantasy elements anywhere to be seen.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |