2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
New window on Lennon and Ono's world
John Lennon and Yoko Ono in a scene from the documentary. A new documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono transports you back to the '70s, Seren Stevens writes.
Confronting truths and inspiring compassion share the stage in the riveting documentary One to One: John & Yoko.
Directed by academy award winner Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September, The Last King of Scotland), the film follows John Lennon and Yoko Ono after their move to New York, following the break-up of the Beatles. The film is skilfully comprised of previously unheard and unseen phone calls and home films, alongside TV clips and interviews with Lennon and Ono — a collection of material that, on paper, doesn't sound particularly captivating.
However, Macdonald's artful storytelling and slick social commentary provides an experience that leaves you in awe.
The film begins with restored 16mm film footage of John and Yoko's 1972 full-length concert, ''One to One'', which was dedicated to the children at Willowbrook State School, an underfunded institution for people with intellectual disabilities. The restored footage is vibrant and electric, transporting you back half a century.
Flickering images of a crowd full of denim jackets, young men with shoulder-length hair and enthusiastically thrown peace signs set the scene. In the background, Lennon's Power to the People is softly chanted. Then, his live version of New York City begins blasting, picking the audience up in a whirlwind of the '70s.
One to One: John & Yoko cleverly uses the convention of TV channels to create an immersive experience of life in the 1970s; of the fashion, the humour, the language and the political scene. The viewer is placed in Lennon and Ono's tiny one-bedroom apartment in New York, where a retro colour TV sits at the end of a messy bed. The channels switch between late-night talk shows, football matches and a news broadcast of the Attica Prison revolt.
President Nixon appears several times, giving warm and reassuring speeches, while people in the background call for him to stop bombing Vietnam.
Through the seemingly random TV channels, the director lays out the political state of the world. The intense polarisation of the political scene is highlighted in a way that feels confronting and yet familiar — eerily so.
In an interview recording, Lennon jokingly describes the TV in their bedroom with a quote that explains the entire film. ''It's a window on the world. Whatever it is, that's our image of ourselves that we're portraying.''
As can be expected, Lennon's live music performances from the ''One to One'' concert are interspersed throughout the film. The songs have been remastered by Sean Ono Lennon, who also produced the film, to lift the music to a previously unheard reimagining.
The beautiful and provoking aspect of the film is the way it effortlessly presents the full context of the time in which Lennon and Ono wrote their music. It builds on the sense that their songs were made with the intention of using the real, unfiltered world as their music video — as this film does. Lennon was simply narrating what was already being seen.
By successfully surrounding the audience in the rose-coloured hypocrisy of the '70s, the film offers the deeper meaning of Lennon's music.
Despite being a story about Lennon and Ono's escape from the Beatles break-up, the film is truly centred around the injustices of the era.
True to Lennon and Ono's purpose, their fame is only a consequence, while their advocacy and activism is the takeaway from the film. Racial injustice, male chauvinism, the atrocities of the Vietnam War and the neglect and abuse of the intellectually disabled are all addressed meaningfully throughout the film.
The intense and compassionate dialogue heard from Lennon, Ono and other key characters is heard in activism today, bringing the story home.
Ono's honest account of how she was treated by the media following the break-up of the Beatles is also a focus; and it's a gut-wrenching glance at the cruelty the media can incite.
One to One: John & Yoko is an eye-opening film that will change the way you hear Lennon's music and see the world today. The level of clarity, art and compassion Macdonald presents is astounding, as is the way he conjures the atmosphere of the '70s into the film.
Lennon and Ono's love story is as intriguing as ever, and the film shines a new light on their love for each other, for music and for the world.
The film
One to One: John & Yoko screens as part of the NZ International Film Festival.
The Regent, Monday, August 18 at 11am and Saturday, August 23 at 12.15pm.
