Fans of The Beatles are no doubt going to go nuts for this movie when it hits in 2021 since not only does it look like fun, after being pared down from a grueling 56 hours, but Peter Jackson has a pretty good track record of delivering something that people are going to want to watch given that he’s proven this in the not too distant past. But from the clip that was provided it’s easy to see that we’ll be seeing the good times, and hopefully, some of the trying times, that The Beatles had to go through during their legendary career. A lot of people probably want to focus on the good times and the days they spent in the studio simply doing their thing while churning out the hits that made them great. But what sounds a little more appealing is the whole story, as much as Jackson can give it with the footage he has. With 56 hours it feels likely that there will be plenty of moments that will be great, some that will be a bit controversial, and maybe some that will fill in the gaps between the most popular moments that people will want to see. Those that adore The Beatles will probably want to see everything that came before.
The funny thing about this is that to this day a lot of people would attribute the breakup of The Beatles to Yoko Ono, likely because she was a convenient target and more capable of taking that kind of abuse than the rest of the group. But some would point out that Paul was a little too controlling, while Lennon’s heroin use was becoming a problem, or had been a problem, and of course, that Ono was in fact a part of the reason why the band split. But the 70s heralded a time that many Beatles fans had a tough time taking since Beatlemania, which was also cited as a reason why the band broke up, was still running pretty wild. The problem of course was that the band had to keep up with their level of fame and it wasn’t always possible since trying to meet the expectations of crowds of people that wanted them at their best at all times wasn’t something that could be met and the strain of having to at least try to do this was bound to take a heavy toll on the guys. A lot of the footage that’s been seen of The Beatles over time has shown them having a good time with the creative process and doing what they can to get through mobs of fans that were eager to hear them sing or simply see them and possibly touch them.
This was one reason and still is a reason, that artists tend to get burned out at some point since the fans can be every bit as toxic as the business and tend to want more than the artists can give at times. Like it or not, musicians are every bit as human as anyone else. They’re not the gods that people make them out to be, they’re not tireless, and they’re not without their own share of problems that they have to deal with. That’s why the hope is that in this documentary, Peter Jackson will end up showing footage that depicts the guys as human beings and not just fun-loving artists that were always having a good time while hanging out and jamming in the studio. The thing about musicians is that not every day is a good one in the studio, not ever chord is going to be struck just right, and there are going to be moments when people are tired, not feeling the vibe, and might just need to take time to get away. The Beatles no doubt had these times and it’s easy to think that within all this footage that there was something that was discovered that could show them being less than pleasant and a little more realistic, stuff that could go along with the happy and content moments that people will want to see. It’s a balance of sorts that needs to be struck to remind the fans that The Beatles were able to have a good time and jam from time to time as they attempted to record their songs, but also had to deal with as much noise in their lives as anyone else, just a lot more.
There’s not a lot of doubt that Peter Jackson will make this work since he has to know just how much people will be expecting this and he’ll be doing his best to help people enjoy the documentary and remember just how great The Beatles were at one time. It will definitely be a movie that’s worth a look.
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