John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky

For eight years, the Beatles rewrote the rules of popular music. After they split up, they were never to reach the same heights as individuals. Except, perhaps, for John Lennon's 'Imagine' album, his first record after the break-up. The album was recorded at his home studio, a process that was mostly recorded on film. That film, coupled with the obligatory sequence of talking heads, has now been recycled into this documentary. Why is it good? Well, because Lennon was (at his peak) brilliant, which makes the insight into how he made his music innately more interesting than the average film of this type. But it also makes a strong case for the (positive) influence that his wife Yoko Ono had on him, and suggests persuasively that the album was very much a product of their shared life, although once it was completed, they abandoned their English country home forever. It's a very human picture of a genius; there's (almost invetably) a measure of sycophancy to it, but it's still well worth watching.