One to One: John & Yoko

As "One tot One: John & Yoko" (2024 release from the UK; 105 min.) opens, It is 1971, and we learn that John and Yoko have left Britain and moved into a small apartment in Greenwich Village, watching lots and lots of TV. Along the way we get clips of the news of that era, including the Attica State Correctional disaster, the anti-Vietnam movement, and lots of Richard Nixon. Then in August, 1972, John & Yoko decide to hold a benefits concert at Madison Square Garden. At this point we are 10 minutes in the documentary,

Couple of comments: this is directed by Oscar-winning Kevin Macdonald ("One Day In September"), and executive produced by Brad Pitt and Sean Ono Lennon among others. The "excuse" for this documentary is the supposed restored audio footage from the MSG 1972 concert, the only full-fletched post-Beatles concert by Lennon. Of course you may recall that the video footage was already released in 1986 as "Live in New York City", and as it happens this documentary only shows clips of only 6 songs (5 by Lennon, 1 by Yoko). The rest is filled with newly unearthed home footage by John & Yoko, miscellaneous TV news and talks show clips, and lots of recorded TV calls. Is this bad? Of course not, but I must admit that when all was said and done, I just felt that my high expectations were not quite met.

"One to One: John & Yoko" premiered at last year's Venice Film Festival to general positive acclaim. It opened this weekend out of the blue at my arthouse theater here in Cincinnati, and I just had to check it out. The Sunday matinee screening where I saw this at was attended poorly (3 people, including myself). If you are a fan of John Lennon or are interested what New York was like in the early 70s, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

This is quite an eye-opening documentary that uses the 1972 "One to One" concert that John and Yoko did to raise funds for the infamous Willowbrook hospital - where the appalling treatment of kids with learning difficulties turned heads and stomachs in equal measure, to shine a light on Nixon's United States. Using an astonishing collection of archive of not just this couple, but of newsreels and television content, Kevin Macdonald presents a pretty galling indictment of a society riddled with racism, homophobia and ignorance against a backdrop of a flower power movement determined to stop the war in Vietnam. I suppose Jerry Rubin would have been called an agitator by the authorities, with his vocal and vociferous criticism of all things government, and his relationship with the Lennon's is also under a spotlight of scrutiny that led to their threatened deportation. By the end of this, and after Nixon's landslide victory in the election, it isn't hard to see why the administration wanted shot of the pair - though that might have had more to do with her terrible singing than with his determination to turns weapons into plant pots and release all prisoners. It is still quite a resonating position even now when the naïveté of their grand design appeals on a superficial level but never delivers adequate enough solutions for the general population who still tend to believe what they are told by the folks they vote for, and obviously the timeframe of this feature is well before the full impact of "Watergate" kicks in rather torpedoes that faith. I could have done with more music, and perhaps a little more from the pair about his leaving the "Beatles" and of her own subsequent vilification from just about everyone, but this is still an illuminating look at a society struggling to emerge from the 1960s, showing the simultaneous power and the impotence of protest, and is worth a watch.

Watched at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

While some of it's presentation and structure does lack a little bit of substance, no denying Kevin MacDonald embraces an nostalgic and captivating examination of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Using good uses of archive footage and concert videos throughout, it helps develop an interesting character study of John and Yoko's relationship, the politics and what makes them special and interesting. Splashing with a good sense of nostalgia to be sucked into the world of the two. Especially with how the music and sound is used very well to present the tone, direction and style. Having grown up with the Beatles and loving the works from John, having the chance to experience this at Sundance was a good experience.

Say what you want about John and Yoko but their relationship and lives surrounding them is one testament of something that is definitely an interesting thing to examine.

I regret watching this film. I was hoping to see mostly concert footage of John and along with it however there was a generous helping of the most annoying blasts from the silly adolescent political past. All the unsavory arse clowns were well represented in this movie and that is a real shame. John's naivete regarding politics is nothing new to those who lived through those turbulent times. But still, I believe in later years he might have regretted some of his affiliations with the lefty trouble makers and he certainly did not do himself any favors by sticking his neck out on the chopping block. Anyway, this film has only about 25 minutes of John playing music and the rest is just annoying filler material that tends to cloud the fact that John was so very talented and yet flawed like many of us are. 4 stars for the music and thumbs down for making this film more annoying than it should have been. Beating a dead horse on the politics side.

Greetings again from the darkness. So why did John and Yoko leave England to live in New York? This film provides the answer. Where did they choose to live? The film provides the answer. Why did John perform his only full post-Beatles concert in 1972? This film provides the answer. Why did they become so politically and socially active during those first 18 months in the States? This film provides the answer. And if you ever wondered how John felt about American television, well you guessed it ... this film provides the answer.

Where did all of these answers come from? Well, Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald (ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER, 1999; THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, 2006; MARLEY, 2012) co-directs with Editor/co-director Sam Rice-Edwards and they focus on a very brief timeline, so that we might better understand John Lennon and Yoko Ono. You might think you know all you need to know about this famous couple, but the filmmakers, along with Producer Sean Ono Lennon, ensure that you see and hear clips you haven't seen or heard before.

Much of this is centered around John's only full post-Beatles concert in 1972, entitled "One to One". Its purpose was to raise funds for kids through Willowbrook State School. And that's not the only storyline about a kid - it turns out, one of the reasons John and Yoko moved to the states was her hope in reuniting with a long-lost daughter named Kyoto. It's just one of the elements of the film that makes this much more of a personal story than simply a recap of celebrities.

The film also works as a snapshot of the era. President Richard Nixon (one clip shows him sporting a maroon blazer), extremist Jerry Rubin, "The Mike Douglas Show", Dick Cavett, Attica, Andy Warhol, and Billy Graham all have their moments. The attempted assassination of George Wallace is shown, as are numerous TV ads, TV series clips, and some news reports. The Vietnam War and Watergate are featured, yet somehow Allen Ginsburg reciting an ode to wiping one's rear-end nearly steals the show.

We've all seen clips from Lennon's One to One concert, and here they are remastered and sound terrific. "Instant Karma", "Hound Dog", "Cold Turkey", "Imagine", "Give Peace a Chance" are all shown, but it's the scorching version of "Come Together" that really stands out. Of course, we are subjected to Yoko's onstage banshee screeching ... though thankfully near the end of the film, she gets a more heartfelt chance to actually sing.

During the film, the contrast with Nixon is obvious. John and Yoko are sincerely committed to peace, love, and justice, while Nixon's politics for power stands opposed. The recreation of John and Yoko's small apartment in the Village is quite something to behold - and remarkable when compared to the photographs and archival footage. When John describes his early obsession with TV as 'a window into the world' and a replacement for the fireplace of his youth, we gain even more insight into the man known mostly for his music and quips. In 1973, John and Yoko moved from the small apartment in the Village to the swanky Dakota building. His wish for the couple to be remembered as "two lovers" comes closer to reality with this film. Some of their home movies (with Sean) are played as the runtime ends.

In IMAX theaters on April 11, 2025.