PLOT: In January 1969, The Beatles allowed filmmaker Michael Lindsay-Hogg to record them preparing for their new album. Inadvertently, he managed to capture the band’s gradual disintegration as they put together what would eventually become the album “Let it Be.”
REVIEW: The legendary “Get Back” sessions have always been an obsession for Beatlemaniacs. Initially, the plan by John, Paul, George and Ringo was to stage a live album comprised of new songs. Still, the sessions at Twickenham Film Studios were rife with discord, and the project metamorphosized into the now famous rooftop concert at the Apple Corps office. Finally, the album itself became “Let it Be”. The filmmaker Michael Lindsay-Hogg turned sixty hours of filmed footage into a controversial eighty-minute documentary that has been hard to see over the last few decades. With so much material in the vaults, the fact that none other than Peter Jackson has been allowed to craft the material into a seven-hour film is a monumental event for fans.
The documentary itself is very much a “fly on the wall” kind of experience, with no narration, no interviews and only the occasional bit of stock footage to jazz things up. Instead, you feel like you’re there with The Beatles (along with Yoko Ono, Lindsay-Hogg and other members of the inner circle), watching as they try to shape their new material into an album and some kind of live show. The band hadn’t performed live in two years when they shot the footage, so this was no easy feat.
Of course, the sessions were also marked by discord, and indeed they broke up for good later the same year, although it wasn’t announced to the public until 1970. While the common perception is that the guys were at each other’s throats, Jackson’s documentary dispels that notion. While it’s true that they were growing apart (something they all acknowledge at different times in the doc), there are no shouting matches or confrontations. Instead, it’s more petty disagreements that seem to be their undoing, with George Harrison quitting for a week because he’s sick of Paul telling him how to play his guitar parts. Most of the personal grievances happen in part one. Still, parts two and three reveal that not only did the band eventually put aside their differences, but they had a pretty good time recording together once they moved to the more familiar Apple Corps studio.
It’s interesting to see the band’s creative process at work, with the titular “Get Back” morphing from a protest song to a hard rocker throughout the sessions depicted in the film. In addition, you get to see what things were like between them. Most interesting is the depiction of the band’s attitude towards Yoko Ono. While you can tell they’re annoyed by the fact that she’s constantly perched on top of an amp next to John, they also understand that the two want to be together all the time. Ono isn’t depicted as trying to control anyone creatively. If anything, she’s relatively unobtrusive and supportive.
There’s a great scene at the beginning of part two that reveals McCartney’s thoughts about John and Yoko, where he says that he supports and understands them as a couple but can’t help but be jealous of the fact that Lennon and he don’t collaborate like they used to. Indeed, they each seem to be taking the lead on their different songs, and it’s interesting to see all of them noodle around on the piano/guitar while the others aren’t around as they’re working on material that they’d eventually release on their solo albums.
One thing worth mentioning is that The Beatles: Get Back isn’t particularly user-friendly for non-fans. Jackson is a fanatic, and the movie has been made with the similarly afflicted in mind. Initially planned as a theatrical feature that I’m sure would have been more accessible to casual fans, this seven-hour series in an epic deep dive that’s not for the uninitiated. For fans though, this is a goldmine, with him having made 16mm film look like it was shot in 4K, to the point that the Fab Four feel gloriously alive and contemporary. There are some fantastic candid moments here, which range from the mind-blowing (Peter Sellers swings by to say hi to the always affable Ringo, but seems put off by John’s oddball sense of humor and leaves) to the innocuous (George Harrison raves about a sci-fi program he saw on the BBC the night before).
Most importantly, you see the magic happen once the guys are in the studio together, especially once the well-liked Billy Preston joins them to play the keyboards. In addition, the whole cast of characters is fascinating, from the doomed roadie Mal Evans (who was shot and killed by the police a few years later) to Lindsay-Hogg, whose ambitions to film a spectacular show seem at odds with the band’s lower-key vibe. It’s an invaluable document, and as a Beatles fan, my sincere thanks go out to Peter Jackson and Disney Plus. They don’t shy away from the swearing, drinking and un-P.C humor of these lovely lads from Liverpool. If you’re a fan, to say this is a must-see is a massive understatement.
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