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★★★★☆A quasi-verité document of The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania, A Hard Day's Night (1964) is the unlikeliest of triumphs. The fact that Richard Lester makes the disparate elements work is tantamount to a cinematic miracle. The odds were aligned against him; a pop group who hadn't acted, an overbearing manager and an almost entirely plotless narrative. Indeed, the film is a rare instance of the stars perfectly aligning; a form of artistic alchemy predicated on the director's broad still set and his mainline into the zeitgeist of the Swinging Sixties. It's a film that succeeds thanks to the unique tension created by its competing elements. Crucially, writer Alun Jones' humorous script is a key foundation.