Film Review: GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD (2011)

Director: Martin Scorsese
Running time: 208 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Documentary
UK Release date: 4^th October 2011

Watched on Sky+ Monday 14^th November 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have never made a secret of the fact that I am a fan of the Beatles, always have been and always will be. So when I heard that Martin Scorsese was making a documentary about the life of George Harrison you can guess I was a tad more than interested. Knowing it was very unlikely to air at my local cinema, I was resigned to either waiting for the DVD release or for it to air on TV in about a years’ time. Imagine my surprise when those nice people at the BBC aired it over the weekend of November 12^th/13^th 2011! Here’s a bit about it before I give you my thoughts.

Using archive footage, much of which I had never seen before, and interviews with his friends and family, we are taken through the ups and downs of the life and times of this quiet guitar player from Liverpool. From the early days of the Beatles, through to their demise in the late 60’s and then on through his solo career. We hear about how he came to finance a Monty Python film, his love of Indian mysticism, his love of motorsport and the many many friends he made along the way. How he formed a little group called The Traveling Wilburys and how they brought him a little success later in his career. It goes right up to his death from cancer in 2001.

It’s a very touching and heartfelt tribute to a man who had an impact on so many lives whether it be through his music or in some other way. I must say I enjoyed it very much, although at just short of three and a half hours, it is pretty long! It’s beautifully put together with just about the right mix of archive footage intercut with interviews. Some of the people who appear are; several Pythons, John Lennon (archive footage), Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Georges’ wife, Olivia and his son, Dhani (who really looks like him), Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, Tom Petty and Phil Spector. At some stage I will definitely invest in the DVD of this documentary, it’s really worth a look for any Beatles fan, or any fan of music for that matter… Just be warned that despite a ‘U’ certificate, there is a little swearing. Over all… Highly Recommended (but VERY long).

My score: 9.2/10

IMDb Score: 8.3/10 (based on 722 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1113829/

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Trailer:

Film Review: A HARD DAY’S NIGHT (1964)

Director: Richard Lester
Running time: 87 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Music/Comedy
UK Release date: 6th July 1964

Watched on Sky+ Friday 29th April 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I’ll admit straight off that I am a fan of The Beatles, I love their music, particularly the later stuff, but some of the earlier stuff is pretty good too. This film was made when they were at the height of their fame in 1964. Beatlemania was sweeping the world and it seemed they could do no wrong. Personally, I was way too young to be aware of all this, but I think there’s been enough written about it and there’s enough footage kicking around from then to get the idea.

The film focuses on the band and a period of 36 hours leading up to a live TV appearance. They are joined by Paul’s grandfather, a ‘mixer’ as Paul calls him. Basically, he likes to wind everyone up so they end up having arguments. Of course he causes much mayhem, particularly for the band’s manager, Norm, for the purposes of the film, and his assistant Shake. Throw into the mix a highly neurotic TV director and a collection of Beatles’ hits from the time and you’ve got the makings of a film.

Now, the acting is not of the highest quality from the band members, although Ringo does show a little promise. Of the other performers, Wilfrid Brambell did a great job as the evil old grandfather (very clean though). Norman Rossington was very harassed as Norm and John Junkin did a good job as the clueless Shake. For me, the best performance came from Victor Spinetti as the highly strung TV director, he was great. Of course, John was played by John Lennon, Paul by Paul McCartney, George by George Harrison and Ringo by Ringo Starr.

As a film, I didn’t find this very good, it’s quite a mess with much chaos around everything the band do. I don’t know, maybe it really was like that for them back then. The plot is pretty weak, but it does the job of showcasing the band and, more importantly, their songs, which were, for me, the highlight of the piece. I guess if you’re a fan of The Beatles then you’ll enjoy this immensely, and so, for you lot, recommended. If you’re not a fan then I’d probably give it a miss, it’s not a great piece of filmmaking.

My Score: 6.4/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0058182/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beatles_a_hard_days_night/
Trailer: