I have watched documentaries that reveal fascinating aspects of John Lennon. Films like America vs. John Lennon (2006) and Lost Weekend, which chronicled John Lennon’s political activities and the Nixon administration’s attempt to deport him. (2022), a work depicting the relationship between Lennon and May Pan. But “One to One: John & Yoko,” despite its nondescript title, is the most complete and attention-grabbing of these rigorous profiles of Lennon. Maybe. “The Lost Weekend” shows us a side of John Lennon that was previously unknown (never widely seen outside of Albert Goldman’s scandalous in-depth biography “The Life of John Lennon”). (Including his propensity for violence, which has never been talked about.) “One to One” begins in August 1971, when John and Yoko move from their country mansion outside London to New York City and live in a small apartment in the West Village for 18 months, just before The Lost Weekend. It deals with the period of . (They have since moved to the Dakotas.)
Lennon was roaming the streets, appearing on American talk shows such as “Mike Douglas,” and delving into his relatively undisturbed post-Beatles life. And many of them have an aura of familiarity. But “One to One” was made by Kevin MacDonald, an accomplished and sometimes bold Scottish director whose films range from “Touching the Void” to “The Last King of Scotland” to ” Whitney,” and invites us into the life of John Lennon. , and that entire period, in a strange way.
One to One is both a documentary about a concert and a documentary about a concert. A snapshot of where John and Yoko were at the time. Tapes of private phone conversations (sometimes with each other, but mostly with other people) were embedded. Let’s take a look at how the two adapted to the changing cultural media landscape of 1971 and 1972. And an archived John Lennon nostalgic party. The tone is both enthusiastic and laid-back, much like Lennon’s life at the time.
The film takes its departure from what John Lennon has said publicly, but for many of us, it goes from one ear to the other: that he moved to New York and embraced America. After that, he became addicted to TV. I always thought this was pretty funny because back in the early ’70s, John Lennon was still very much a counterculture guy and was at the forefront of a lot of protest movements. But his realization that his most favorite activity centered in front of the television seemed to be a foreshadowing of where the culture as a whole was headed, beyond his more famous activities. .
Lennon may be an idealist when it comes to politics. (“There is nothing to kill or die for, and there is no religion…”)) But in many ways he was a royal cynic, steeped in anti-romanticism with a sour view of reality. (Listen to the lyrics to “Revolution.”) And that’s what some smart people are addicted to TV for, and it certainly was back then: commercials, mostly crappy shows, packaged Surfing everything, including the news. , in many ways just like a commercial, soaking it up like a sponge and at the same time starting to do it, subtly better than that, complicit in the decadent Western couch potato experience act. . everything under the sun show.
John and Yoko were bed potatoes, not couch potatoes. MacDonald and his team built a strikingly accurate restoration of the couple’s white-washed duplex apartment at 105 Bank Street. We never see people living in the apartment, but as the camera moves around, we notice where everything is, including the beds. A television was placed at its feet, and the remnants of John and Yoko’s life were strewn about: a guitar, clothes, an amplifier, a typewriter, newspapers and magazines, and a Snoopy pillowcase. “One on One” is packed with home movies and candid photos, and a model of the apartment is right in front of us so we can put the John and Yoko we see right in the middle of it.
Macdonald represents this era in another important way. The title “One to One” comes from two benefit concerts John Lennon performed with the Plastic Ono Elephants Memory Band on August 30, 1972 at Madison Square Garden. That’s the powerful kick music brings right now. The band’s sound was extraordinary — So As Lennon leads them through the songs, from the sonorous opening number “New York City” to “Instant Karma,” “Come Together” and a stripped-down, inspired performance of “Mother,” Lennon is sharp and lively.
Music gives form and momentum to movies. But so is the way MacDonald counteracts John Lennon’s television habits, presenting footage from the period as a continuous channel-surfing montage. Nixon, “The Waltons”, the Attica uprising, Jerry Rubin in the Raghu commercial “Phil Donahue”, the shooting of George Wallace, Charlie Chaplin’s return from exile, and other events and media tidbits that will guide you It will twist. An airy quality from the early 70’s. The thing about 1971 and 1972 is that the New Right was starting to emerge, but no one knew it yet, and the messianic base of the counterculture (“Hey, we’re changing the world! ”) was starting to move in vain. But no one knew it yet. It was a great moral hangover.
You really feel that as the film chronicles John and Yoko’s relationship with Jerry Rubin, who became a celebrity during the Chicago 7 trial and liked his fame a little too much. If Abbie Hoffman was the cheerful prankster-Yippie, Rubin was the con-artist Yippie, a revolutionary salesman who never found an audience in which he didn’t feel superior. Still, he seduced Lennon into teaming up. The partnership began when Lennon performed at a Free John Sinclair rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We see rare footage of that legendary concert, but we can’t believe Lennon sings “John Sinclair.” ” (“It’s not fair, John Sinclair/In the noise for air”) comes out very well on this song. However, the event succeeded in getting the White Panther Party founder’s 10-year prison sentence for marijuana waived, and Rubin, who had befriended John Lennon, invited Lennon to join him on the Free the People tour. agreed to cooperate. A rock’n’roll circus of protest politics. But everything fell apart.
As I listen in amazement to John and Yoko’s phone calls, I understand why. In “One to One,” many of them appear on a black background with transcripts. By this point, John Lennon’s phone had already been tapped by the FBI, and these tapes (which, mind you, the filmmakers never said) were secretly recorded. It can be assumed that it is from the pile of documents that were created. However, nothing scandalous has happened. We hear the comedy of Yoko’s colleagues trying to scrape together a treasure trove of insects for her art installation. John Lennon can be heard preaching purist politics to Allen Klein, the manager who helped break up the Beatles, although Klein is too worldly to be drawn into Lennon’s radical dreams. , you’re too smart not to suddenly pretend “yes” without spending a dime. He can also feel the spirit. (What kind of dark heart is this? manage ) We hear Jerry Rubin’s performative left-wing guilt trips. Most of the time, we hear what Lennon was really like, cheerful and open-minded despite having a bullshit detector.
You can also hear how keen an observer Yoko was and how she felt shut out by the Beatles (“They ignored me”). Part of the emotional context of the film is how John was ahead of his time in prioritizing Yoko’s wishes over his own. The reason they came to New York in the first place was to look for Kyoko, Yoko’s estranged daughter from her second marriage, but they couldn’t find her (she had been sent to a Christian cult with a different identity). (I was raised downstairs). They moved into a modest bohemian apartment. Because that was Yoko’s hope. (She came from a wealthy family and didn’t find country mansions as novel as working-class John.)
“One to One” depicts the close friendship between Lennon and Elton John, but at this point the movie cheats a bit, as it all happened later, in 1973 and 1974. That’s when Lennon’s exhilarating hit single duet, “Whatever Gets You,” was sung. “Through the Night” was released. But this is no big deal, since there is very little that is simple and consistent about John Lennon. In the early ’70s, he was a walking contradiction. He was an extremist sitting and watching TV. The powerful rock star was dedicated to pleasing and respecting his avant-garde wife, while retaining a prickly, free-spirited edge. A native Brit who became the ultimate New Yorker. All of that spills over into “One to One,” making it a rare rock document that’s a must-see.