The Beatles
Movie
The Whole World
Lit UP
A Ron Howard Film
I must admit
I’m a Beatles fanatic. I bought all their albums, bootlegs, 45’s and DVD’s. I
was there watching my heroes on Ed Sullivan and I never looked back. As The
Beatles became a marker for us baby boomers. We witnessed the killing of JFK
and our colors lost their luster and darker sepia tones emerged to rob us of
our sense of safety. The Beatles changed all the rules and came out on top. Ron
Howard did it right starting with the early tours in Germany before Beatlemania
broke out in America. He included dark passages at the Reeperbahn in Hamburg as
well as Lennon’s misstep about religion and the subsequent violence ensued.
Kids and parents tossed this precious cargo of music onto bonfires, needlessly
destroying the music that could soothe and create even more love. Howard captured
the Beatles in their early prime when the put on incredible concerts. Giles
Martin (George Martin’s son) did an incredible job restoring the live
performances as the original tapes were in bad shape. He also resurrected the
Shea Stadium concert tapes with parts from the Hollywood Bowl concert. Giles
Martin said, “the response to the movie and Hollywood Bowl album is just
amazing, more than I expected. It’s great to see that people are being so
emotionally touched by it.”
Howard has
worked his magic once again. He took this small independent documentary and
made it a masterpiece. This little film is out grossing multimillion dollar
studios. Go figure.
There have
been no demographic surveys but there have been anecdotal citing’s of
adolescent girls who love Paul or Ringo and the other Beatles. Audiences have
responded to the part of the film that reveals contract rider specifying that
the Beatles would not to segregated audiences. Whoppi Goldberg saw the Beatles
in their heyday and thought nothing about race. It was more about music and The
Beatles attempt to replicate Motown, rock & roll and rhythm and blues. Howard
captures the Beatles during a time of transition that were both political and
cultural. They opened up America to all these changes.
The film is
not available in certain markets but if you have HULU, you can watch the movie
from the comfort of your own home. Check it out!
Peace
Bo White
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