John & Yoko

Well (well well), Lennon is my favourite rock star and "Imagine" is one of my all-time favourite albums so this documentary centring on his recording of that very record was always going to be right down my strasse. Actually taking in his career and activities from a couple of years before, when he first hooked up with Yoko Ono and they formed the Plastic Ono Band, it's a fascinating insight into the man that "Time" magazine voted as one of the men of the decade just past when this was shot.

This was therefore the period when Lennon, soon to up sticks permanently to New York after just a couple of years at the sprawling country grounds of Tittenhurst Park where most of this film was made, was living a gadfly existence as outside of his recording duties we see him out on the road promoting Yoko's book "Grapefruit", following through on his political activism by attending protest marches as well as making himself generally available for interviews with both the music and the popular press, the latter keen to lampoon his peacenik happenings.

The film employs the usual technique of talking head commentaries, some from over-adulatory outsiders and the more interesting ones from those who were either in Lennon's band at the time, like drummer Alan White and bassist Klaus Voormann or were part of his staff. Whilst the film gives almost equal attention to Yoko, there's no question in my mind as to who the real deal is here. Whether expounding his utopian vision for peace on earth, discussing revolutionary politics with Tariq Ali, leading his band through his new songs or most candidly, taking in an obviously damaged Beatles fan who just turns up at his door (and look where that openness to his public led him), he comes across, at least to me, as a sharp, witty, playful guy, one you'd enjoy spending time with. Yes I'm aware of his self-confessed human flaws but even grown up son Julian speaks well of his old man here and that's good enough for me.

The music is absolutely terrific too with snippets of every track from the album heard in one incarnation or another although personally I wish there was more of it shown.

This in summary then is a fine fly-on-the-wall documentary showing a musical giant at his very considerable best.

For eight years, the Beatles rewrote the rules of popular music. After they split up, they were never to reach the same heights as individuals. Except, perhaps, for John Lennon's 'Imagine' album, his first record after the break-up. The album was recorded at his home studio, a process that was mostly recorded on film. That film, coupled with the obligatory sequence of talking heads, has now been recycled into this documentary. Why is it good? Well, because Lennon was (at his peak) brilliant, which makes the insight into how he made his music innately more interesting than the average film of this type. But it also makes a strong case for the (positive) influence that his wife Yoko Ono had on him, and suggests persuasively that the album was very much a product of their shared life, although once it was completed, they abandoned their English country home forever. It's a very human picture of a genius; there's (almost invetably) a measure of sycophancy to it, but it's still well worth watching.

Stumbled upon this film and figured it would be a lame re-hash of the previous "Imagine" documentary. To my pleasant surprise, it felt like there was footage I hadn't seen before. I enjoyed pretty much the entirety of it.

This is a portrait of Lennon in transition, newly free from the shackled of then-fraught Beatles. He seems a lot more relaxed and chilled out then just a couple years prior, and it's nice to see.

I appreciated the documentary spending some time crediting Yoko's positive influence (for once) on songs like Imagine and others. Whatever your opinions of the woman is, it can't be denied that we got a huge amount of amazing music from her time as Lennon's muse.

There's a number of talking heads without much interesting things to say. Basically just heaping praise, which dragged the film down a bit I felt. More interesting were the stories from the engineers and other musicians in terms of Lennon's recording process.

All in all, a nice appetizer for the upcoming Peter Jackson helmed Beatles doc of their time recording Let It Be.

Worth a watch.

I've heard Yoko mention throughout the years that she had 'never before' seen footage of John. This is it and I'm grateful she has finally shared it with the world. This is Yoko's heart on a platter, her private life with John I'm certain was very very painful to let go of. These clips were obviously cherished memories that she held close to her heart and were difficult to share because these were her memories, not for the public. Thank you for opening your heart and sharing with us those memories of John. Very tastefully done.

I'm not a film critic but I am a big documentary fan and lived through the Beatles and John Lennon's life. (I'm 63). I learned a lot I didn't know from this documentary, mostly about John and Yoko's relationship and how she was really his muse. To be honest I mostly thought of her as the strange woman who howled unintelligibly and broke up the Beatles. But there's so much more to the story. This is a film about music, love, social change, war, art and the media (and a lot more!). I would say there are a few too many talking head interviews but none of them are superfluous and they all add to the story and commentary. Just wish I could have seen more of John and Yoko (there's a lot but the film alludes to thousands of hours of film). Mostly I was left inspired by their creativity and willingness to take on the critics and the media and blaze their own path. Their idealism and vision was so beautiful and yet the world is an even darker place today. Yet we can always Imagine and that gives hope.