When John Lennon and Yoko Ono arrived in New York City in late 1971, the USA was in a state of heightened political tensions. From the war in Vietnam, to the thousands of unjustly detained prisoners, to rising government figures with extreme racist views, to the dehumanisation of children with disabilities, there was plenty for activists to protest against. This documentary from Kevin MacDonald (director of the excellent Touching the Void, and musical documentaries Marley and Whitney) details John and Yoko’s response to the hostile world they had embedded themselves into, culminating in a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden.
MacDonald tells John and Yoko’s story by building a video collage made from talk show interviews and press conferences, intercut with brutal news footage of wider political disturbance and sun-filtered TV adverts. This method is both the film’s strength and weakness: it immerses the viewer in the media John and Yoko were consumed with at the time, and one can easily sympathise with their frustration and their yearning to protest in the best way they could – with music. But the film also holds the central couple oddly at arm’s length. By keeping mostly to old interview clips, we are given a carefully considered portrait of them, rather than the candid and disarming view fly-on-the-wall footage can offer. The only real insight into the couple’s lives comes from recorded telephone conversations with various journalists, managers and PAs. In these recordings, both John and Yoko are shown to be sweet, vulnerable and sincere in their beliefs. It’s a shame video footage depicting more of the same couldn’t be sourced.
The filmmakers seem to invite parallels to the current state of our world – political divide, racial tension, the erosion of rights for marginalised groups. But despite their apparent intention for the film to serve as a reminder of history repeating itself, it is the concert footage that really excels here. There are only a handful of songs scattered throughout the length of the film, but they are the most thrilling ingredient. The audio, overseen by Sean Ono Lennon, has been remastered beautifully, and these songs have never sounded better, especially the rawer, stripped-back ones, such as Mother. For a fan of John’s music (and to a lesser extent, Yoko’s), the performance segments alone are worth the price of the cinema ticket.
Reviewed by Matthew Onuki Luke
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