The full performance of the Beatles playing on the roof of the Apple Corps building on Savile Row, London, is sensational.
The full performance of the Beatles playing on the roof of the Apple Corps building on Savile Row, London, is sensational.
If you're a big fan of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, you've no doubt paid your fee to Disney+ and been watching Sir Peter Jackson's epic eight-hour documentary of a month in a life.
The more casual admirer of the Beatles may be wondering whether it's worth taking a deepdive into that much screen time.
For the non-Beatles obsessed but still curious, here are nine reasons why you should watch The Beatles: Get Back.
1. It looks amazing. Jackson has digitally restored and edited the original 60 hours of film shot by Michael Lindsay-Hogg in January 1969. It's like the sixties are right there in front of you, and you could walk in and get an autograph. From George Harrison's lime green trousers to John Lennon's dirty white sneakers, it's a visual delight. There's no blurry film grain. Everything's as sharp as modern-day reality TV.
2. Watching the song Get Back – created by Paul McCartney while playing around on his bass guitar one morning at Twickenham Film Studios – is incredible. It didn't exist, then it did. Watching Let It Be take shape isn't bad either.
3. It's a long and winding road, but there's a story here, one with a satisfying emotional arc. At first, there are obstacles, such as the tension that leads to Harrison briefly quitting the band. The lack of clarity about what they're doing and whether they're going to perform live. The songs struggle to come together. Lennon repeatedly arrives late. And then, eventually, there's reconciliation, a sense of purpose, and the triumph of the iconic London rooftop performance.
4. There are tears. Before he walks out of the group, Harrison has watery eyes. A couple of times, McCartney also gets something in his eye as he contemplates his film project falling apart and the possibility of the band breaking up. There's nothing sadder than seeing those doleful eyes of his, framed by those famous curved eyebrows, tearing up.
Wit and banter spill out of all the Beatles.
5. The humour and silliness. Lennon, in particular, can be a bit of an egg. Wit and banter spill out of all the Beatles, but it's Lennon's quickness of comment, laced with occasional absurdity, that stands out. Despite the awesome music, without the humour, eight hours of fly-on-the-wall footage would be more of a struggle.
6. The central figure of the documentary is McCartney. He's driving the film-making project along, writing most of the songs, and is the most invested in the outcome. He's in his prime, and also unguarded. After the Beatles, McCartney got progressively safer in his interviews, repeating the same stories. Here we see the raw McCartney. It's a better version.
7. Not many of us are Lennons or McCartneys. Most of us have felt at times in our lives like we're the marginalised, under-appreciated George Harrison. It happens in any organisation, at work, in a circle of friends, or in a family. Other people are more fun, charismatic or talented. Being second best can get you down. Watching Harrison bring his songs to the often uninterested McCartney and Lennon is painful to watch. We feel for Harrison because most of us aren't the other two.
8. The full performance of the Beatles playing on the roof of the Apple Corps building on Savile Row, London, is sensational. McCartney and Lennon project themselves out over the city skyline while hamming it up for the film cameras. The foot-stomping McCartney makes cool grunt-like noises during performances of Get Back. And when it really counted, Lennon puts everything into his vocal leads on the rocking One After 909, the plaintive Don't Let Me Down, and the mercurial Dig A Pony.
9. The cast of supporting characters is fascinating. There's the genial and talented keyboardist Billy Preston, who adds the missing ingredient to the songs. George Martin, the Beatles long-term producer, flits in and out, looking like a suave 1950s movie star. There's the working-class Beatles road manager, Mal Evans, and the always funkily dressed sound engineer and producer of this album, Glyn Johns. Yoko Ono, the often maligned one, is a quiet presence. Wives and girlfriends of the other Beatles all drop by. Secretaries, helpers, policemen and fans make brief appearances. Some of these people feel modern; others like they couldn't possibly exist in the world any more. The culture, language and history that made them is gone. That so many people in the documentary are dead, but shown so alive and so normal in many ways, is incredibly poignant. All of them, with the Beatles, contributed to the creation of art that will move people for years to come.
Jackson's mammoth film project documents the best of what we can do with our time on Earth. It's an inspiration to get off the couch afterwards and do something.
