The Lost Weekend: A Love Story

The Lost Weekend: A Love Story is an amazing film and May Pang is an amazing woman. As a huge Beatles / John Lennon fan I thought I knew the story. I did not! The Lost Weekend: A Love Story is compelling and beautiful and sincere - as is May Pang herself. And the archival materials!!! Don't even get me started. I highly recommend The Lost Weekend: A Love Story.

At a pivotal point in John Lennon's post-Beatles life, May Pang was at his side, and the story of their relationship has been the subject of much gossip and speculation. In The Lost Weekend: A Love Story, May takes an affectionate and unsparing look back at this period. Whatever you think you know about Lennon in the early '70s, his music, his escapades, his circle of friends and colleagues, The Lost Weekend goes much deeper. A fascinating and emotional document.

In a world of exploitative gossip it is a challenge to reveal a personal life story, especially when it involves the lives of the iconically famous. There is also an expectation of privacy among members of the inner circle. May Pang was put into the spotlight of scrutiny and speculation by circumstance, and her public personna was skewed by hearsay in the media. This gave May the right to tell her own story as history.

In her documentary she shares personal information about her background, setting the psychological and situational landscape that led her to an unexpected life experience. Despite her youth - her innate intelligence, compassion, and decency navigated her through the complicated demands of her position. The documentary is a heartfelt and quite personal truth that opens a view through the veil of secrecy - just enough to tastefully share her story.

I knew who May Pang was and what the Lost Weekend was, so I wondered what filler they could throw together to make an entire documentary. Boy was I wrong! This is a top-notch story that is engrossing from start to finish. It has archival footage and interviews that flesh out the time period of May's Yoko-ordered time with John.

Her photos may be mere Polaroids but they document a personal side of their time together. Julian Lennon gets to participate as well. May seemed to have been a beneficial part of rejoining him with John. There's a 1974 photo shown of Julian and his crush Jodie Foster. I've never seen such a happy smile like the one he's wearing.

There are also details of May Pang's upbringing, which was not easy. Though this film is aimed at John Lennon fans, I also like it as a time capsule of the 1970s. Not only does it show George Harrison on the Dick Cavett Show, it even shows May sitting in the audience.

We think of the Beatles living in England after the breakup, yet they crossed paths in the United States quite often. This film is a vital piece of Beatles history.

I was lucky to see a viewing of : The Lost Weekend: A Love Story. It's a beautiful documentary following the young May Pang who started as an assistant at Apple Records, moving into a personal assistant position for John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It is a very compelling, raw, sincere story of a young woman who was lightyears beyond her young age of 22. May Pang was instrumental in helping John to have a relationship with his son Julian. May had a special bond with John that I feel helped him immensely. It is extremely well done. I credit May Pang and her producers/directors Eve Brandstein, Richard Kaufman and Stuart Samuels for creating a masterpiece.

I highly recommend it!