Johnny Showtime: ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO

 by JB

I found this new documentary to be equal parts cathartic and electrifying.

Though I missed the IMAX-only screenings on April 11, I was first in line to see this when it opened at my local theater last Friday night. Now that I’ve seen it, I question whether the ginormous IMAX screen would have enhanced the film all that much. The whole thing is a pretty intimate affair.

THE PLOT IN BRIEF: In 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono leave England for New York City. They move into a small apartment in Greenwich Village and dive into the world of radical leftist politics with the likes of Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. Lennon plays a benefit concert for imprisoned journalist John Sinclair, who has been given a ten-year sentence for possessing two joints. The day after the concert, the Michigan Supreme Court sets Sinclair free.

Emboldened by this victory, Lennon envisions a series of concerts nationwide where money raised will be used to bail out the unjustly imprisoned. Those concerts never materialize, though John and Yoko do manage to stage a massive benefit concert on August 30, 1972 at Madison Square Garden to aid the Willow Brook Children’s Hospital. They raise 1.5 million dollars for the beleaguered hospital.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Much of Lennon’s topical music from the period is often disparaged as naïve and pedestrian. I’ve always liked it. Ask any Lennon fan, and they will tell you that his worst album is Some Time in New York City, the double album of “rock journalism” he released in 1972. I have always maintained there are some great tunes on this album, including “New York City,” “John Sinclair,” “Luck of the Irish,” and “Attica State.” The album also contains one of the only Yoko Ono songs I have ever liked: “We’re All Water.”

During this time, President Richard Nixon saw Lennon’s political activism as a threat to his re-election and so ordered the FBI to have the Lennons surveilled. Lennon suspected his phones were being tapped, so he began to record all of his calls, which would give him a record of what he actually said. One to One: John & Yoko makes fascinating use of these recordings, blending them with the film’s larger narrative. The filmmakers have also built a facsimile of the Lennons’ Greenwich Village apartment, down to the smallest detail, which they place onscreen to provide b-roll background for events that were not filmed.

John Lennon was an avid television fan, sometimes watching and channel-surfing for days at a time. The filmmakers have also assembled a crazy quilt of American television snippets from this era (era) blending news footage, game shows, and lots of commercials. Lastly, the film footage and soundtrack of the benefit concerts themselves have all been fully restored; they have never looked or sounded better, and they provide the backbone of the film.

We get more-or-less-complete live versions of "Instant Karma!" “John Sinclair,” "Hound Dog," "Cold Turkey,” "Imagine,” “Mother,” "Come Together," and "Give Peace a Chance", the live version of which contains a celebrity cameo that I had forgotten about but will not spoil here! (This averages out to a Lennon performance about every twelve minutes.)

Yoko sings “Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for A Hand in The Snow)” and “Age 39 (Looking Over from My Hotel Window)." John and Yoko duet on “Luck of the Irish.” “New York City” is played over the opening credits; make sure to stick around during the end credits for a brand-new mix of John’s “Number 9 Dream.” It’s terrific. A boxset of both concerts is supposed to be released this year on John’s birthday, October 9th.

I admire the structure that documentarian Kevin MacDonald has imposed upon the material. Although some of the music and news footage mash-ups come across as cynical and a little mean-spirited (for instance, Tricia Nixon’s wedding intercut with Lennon’s performance of “Hound Dog” from the benefit concert) I applaud the juxtapositions and shape of the finished film. Lennon’s live performance of “Mother” is introduced by footage from his famous Mike Douglas Show appearance where he details his tragic relationships with his biological parents. It’s heartbreaking, and it makes one wonder if this was part of the reason Lennon chose a children’s charity to be the beneficiary of his largesse. Like all great documentaries, One to One: John & Yoko invites its viewers to mediate for an extended time on specific themes and subject matter and to draw their own conclusions. I would invite young people to watch this film if they are interested in finding out who this famous musician really was; forty-five years after his death, I’m afraid many young people know John as simply “that Beatle guy.”

Obviously as the biggest Beatles fan I know (by weight, if not by enthusiasm) I have a special relationship to the material here. Growing up, Lennon was a personal hero of mine and his assassination during my freshman year of college changed the way I looked at the world. Viewing One to One: John & Yoko last week, it was nice to spend a little quality time with my hero after all these years. He had a good heart. He and Yoko raised a significant amount of money for some very needy children. The music is delightful. I recommend this new film without reservation.