“Let It Be,” a documentary film about the Beatles that was released shortly after the group broke up in 1970, returned to screens Wednesday, making it legally available for viewing for the first time in more than 50 years.
Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the film, shot in January 1969, provides a glimpse of the tension and bitterness between John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr that ultimately led to their breakup. .
“George didn't record many songs because John and Paul were so prolific and brilliant,” Jonathan Clyde of the Beatles' Apple Corps told AFP.
“John met Yoko (Ono) and started going his own way, Paul did what he wanted to do, and Ringo started making movies,” he said.
The film shows the Fab Four during rehearsals and recording sessions for their album Let It Be.
The final segment features an unannounced 40-minute concert on the roof of a record company building on London's Savile Row.
Restored from the original 16mm negative with remastered sound using the latest demix technology and re-released on Disney+.
more objective
Clyde said the film was about a period when they were trying to rekindle the same spirit when they first started performing at Liverpool's Cavern Club and Hamburg.
However, it was tainted by their breakup in April 1970, a month before the film was released, and unfairly became “a kind of strange afterthought to the end of their career.” he added.
“They didn't feel a lot of love for 'Let It Be,' I think, because it was associated with all sorts of issues,” he told an audience after a screening of the remastered film in London on Tuesday. .
More than half a century later, the book can now be seen in a more objective light, as a valuable record of the Beatles' creative process.
“We all know they were geniuses. They produced this amazing music year after year after year after year, but the truth is they worked incredibly hard,” he said.
“I see two steps forward and one step back. Days where nothing really happened, all of a sudden there's a burst of energy and I'm moving forward.”
symbolic
Approximately 60 hours of unreleased footage shot for the film was used by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson in his 2021 Let It Be production series.
Jackson's documentary “The Beatles: Get Back'' takes a more positive look at the Beatles' final months, using outtakes to show the bandmates joking about their 12th and final studio album. The video showed the production of the famous song.
The climax of Lindsay-Hogg's documentary is their last public performance together, a rooftop gig.
Music journalist and critic John Harris said it was a snapshot of London in 1969, with office workers and passersby in bowler hats and miniskirts stopping to take in the views and walking around the neighborhood. He said the photo was taken of him climbing onto the roof of a building.
“It's a reminder of London at the time and it's amazing to see people who fought in World War I wearing hats and people rushing onto the roof.
“It's iconic, John in his fur coat, Ringo in his red plastic mac, Paul in his beautiful black suit and George in his green pants and baseball boots. Everything is perfect. ” he said.