Let It Be

The Beatles were on the verge of permanent implosion from within when the landmark documentary "Let if Be" was filmed. The iconic band could hardly stand to be in the same room with one another at this point, let alone continue on as the greatest popular music group the world will ever know.

Still, having watched this fascinating chronicle again after several years, I was struck with this one prevailing notion.

That is clearly just how much dang fun these legendary Liverpudlians were having when they put all the business and inflated ego BS aside, cranked up the amps and launched full force into exactly what they ever really wanted to do from the beginning.

Rock our as--- right straight off.

Oscar awarded documentary about Beatles final sessions. Great occasion to peep behind the big scene and see The Fab Four working in the studio. Amazing picture that must be seen not only by Beatles fans, but by all good movies lovers. An undeniably classic with lots of legendary tunes.

The Beatles is probably the most famous musical act ever that has been on the ground of this Earth. That said the movie 'Let It Be' presents the group at a stage where they were about to break-up. They were not at their best during the filming, but what is shown in the movie is still about the most fabulous thing ever to see. There is no way anymore to get any closer to them than the 'Let It Be' movie.

John, Paul, George and Ringo will perform nicely raw versions of their famous hit songs. They haven't yet figured out all the lyrics yet but it's still nice to hear any the songs in a unfinished stage. The movie will also show you how they were playing some of their oldies as a warm up songs before starting with another take of their newer songs.

The atmosphere seems to be bit dark, Lennon is passive and Paul is clearly the one who is steering the ship now. Some visitors who appear at the studio make the daylight occasionally shine but as a better than nothing solution the rooftop concert in the end is "really enjoyable" like one of the passers-by say. It's all somehow sad, but strangely cool .

Another watched in-flight movie on my IPod, "Let it Be" for my money now stands as an honest and convincing testimony to the talent and stature of The Beatles, even as one can sense the ties that bind loosening them individually in front of you.

Of course there's a sadness and elegiac sensation for fans in watching this "posthumous" film and it's also fair to say the music isn't always top-drawer Beatles - only McCartney brings his best work to the party, although John and especially George would recover their chops in time for "Abbey Road". Sure, too the playing's a bit sloppy at times but there's never a moment when there isn't fascination at something going on on-screen. And for-by much is made of Paul and George's spat (with John acting as unlikely peace-maker) and the at times tired and dishevelled appearance of the guys themselves, there are many other revealing and rewarding vignettes, even before director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, corrals the band for three assured in-studio video performances (all, significantly, of Macca tracks) and then the great idea (since aped by the Stones and U2) of playing their new stuff live on Apple's roof, on a biting cold Jamuary day. It was also inspired of Lindsay-Hogg to intersperse the general public's comments before the group brings the "audition" to a close.

The photography is great, the four stepping into life from their iconic White Album photos and I enjoyed the honest but fair editing applied to what was by all accounts a massively over-recorded exercise. Favourite moments for me include Paul and Ringo's boogie-woogie piano run-through, George assisting Ringo with the writing of "Octopus's Garden" and of course that final run-through of "Get Back" on the roof, with Paul surprisingly getting in some improvised anti-Establishment digs before the police pulled the plug.

Of all the concerts that ever have been or ever will be, that 20 minute Apple gig is the one I wish I could have been at. And surely even if slightly Pyrrhically, the great music they produce over the last thirty minutes or so of the film justifies the raison-d'etre of the film, working up the songs from in-progress to issuable level.

I believe this candid look inside the troubled world of the later Beatles is a good account of why the world's greatest musical force ultimately broke up. I wouldn't easily recommend it to a "casual" Beatles listener, and certainly not at all would I suggest it for clueless "non-fans". But for the serious fan such as myself, this is fascinating to watch. Paul McCartney was the only Beatle at this point who was interested in trying to keep the band together; George Harrison was too busy getting fed up with Paul for telling him how to play his own guitar; Ringo Starr was lethargic and resigned to being the solemn background drummer; and John Lennon was so in love with Yoko Ono that he couldn't care less what the other three were doing anyway. So, it's this grim reality creeping into the once magical world of the Beatles' recording sessions that is tense and uncomfortable to watch here. But there is no denying that it's all frank, in-your-face, and well captured.

But it's not all ugliness. When Billy Preston is invited in for an inspired jam session, for example, everything seems like fun and games again. And the impromptu rooftop concert at the end of the movie displays The Fab Four at their best, playing great music together and having a lot of fun one last time as a unit, almost in spite of themselves. Of course, even with all its warts, there's always the music. Classic songs like "Two of Us," "I've Got a Feeling," "Don't Let Me Down," The Long and Winding Road," "Get Back," and the appropriate title tune itself are always there to make us feel good again. *** out of ****