A Musical Gift to America
Reviewed by Stefanie Chow
March 10th, 2008
A stunningly brilliant story of oppression to empowerment, this film documents the amazing life of British singer and songwriter John Lennon, everything from the epic beginnings of his career to his tragic and unforgettable death – capturing nothing short of timeless triumph, heartbreaking tragedy, inseparable love, and overall excellence.
Mainly a compilation of historical media footage, David Leaf and John Scheinfeld use the 1960s image of Beatles-singer John Lennon and give it a present-day spin by interviewing acknowledgers of Lennon’s poignant journey from oppression to empowerment, including Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono, family friend Elliot Mintz, activist Noam Chomsky, and several other publishers, writers, and revolutionaries. Although I am personally not quite a fan of the Beatles, this documentary gifted me with a new respect for Lennon and the obstacles he overcame to become the outstandingly notorious rock-and-roll figure he is today.
Much unlike Kevin McDonald’s documentary Touching the Void, The U.S. vs. John Lennon strictly comprises of archival press footage and interviews, whereas Touching the Void reenacts the true story it was based on and only has a few photographs of the real participants. This in itself makes the film more enjoyable, because the audience has the mindset that they are watching a documentary and that its characters are all, indeed, nonfiction.
Because this film is expository and directly addresses the audience on Lennon’s life, a voyage is led through his history, starting with his collaboration with Paul McCartney and the creation of the Beatles in 1960. The unlimited access the directors have to music and concert recordings by Lennon and the Beatles makes for a predictable audio track throughout the documentary, whether diegetic or nondiegetic. Lennon’s songs, whether singing about Yoko, the anti-war revolution, or the U.S. government, are matched to the corresponding section of his life in the film, which makes it more interesting. The historical context of this documentary focuses mainly on the Vietnam War and the anti-war spirit of Americans across the country. Lennon and Yoko are dragged from their music and art industry to participate in this protesting, and their impressively spectacular ability to connect both music and protesting are memorably shown to have an extreme impact on U.S. society and on the viewers of the movie.
In my opinion, the most profoundly impacting part of the film presented itself in the form of my favorite influence in Lennon’s life: his wife, Yoko. When introducing this character, Leaf and Scheinfeld show footage of Yoko’s conceptual art, in this case, of someone publicly cutting pieces off her clothing, little by little, a notion she calls “music of the mind.” Yoko claimed that she was “always aware that [she] wanted to inspire people and stir people so that they can wake up.” Photographer Bob Gruen said, “She once told me that if half the people don’t get up and leave, then I haven’t done it right, because she wanted to affect people, and affecting people sometimes gets them very upset if they’re not used to being aware of their feelings. So when she suddenly makes them feel something, they get angry. They get angry at her for making them feel something.” As a film, this inclusion of profound ideas from both Lennon and Yoko gives it a unique style as a documentary.
One stylistic device I found particularly intriguing was the narration of this movie. Although put together by David Leaf and John Scheinfeld, all the narration is done by the conducted interviews. Essentially, the entire documentary is a string of interviews, footage of concerts, speeches by revolutionaries, and interview panels with Lennon and Yoko; while the interviewee is speaking, the camera cuts to either a montage of still-shots or a reel of press coverage of Lennon’s life. These features were composed brilliantly and appear neither distracting nor repetitive, but in fact very well-done.
In terms of this documentary’s construction of reality, it is much more realistic than nonfiction writings, especially memoirs, such as Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. John Lennon is not a recounting of Lennon’s life, but more an analysis and redemption of his oppression by society in the 1960s. Leaf and Scheinfeld’s documentary proves to be more reliable, only because of its extensive amount of archival footage and A-roll of interviews with people (not actors) actually involved in Lennon’s life. These interviews “fact-check” each other, and a combination of them bring out the truth in this documentary’s arguments. On the other hand, Angelou’s autobiography contains all the weaknesses of a nonfiction literary work, including general gaps in memory, impossible recounts of childhood memories, and impractical details added to spice up the story for its readers. Although there may be some truth and honesty in Angelou’s memoir, Leaf and Scheinfeld’s documentary is exponentially more effective in convincing its audience that its message is both important and genuine.
In comparison to the documentary Favela Rising, the power of music is shown to be undoubtedly life-changing, both in attitude and behavoir. The Afro-Reggae music group in Favela Rising demonstrates how a creation of a new music genre can change an entire society for the better. In John Lennon, though he received much criticism at first, Lennon’s music inspired the public to stand up for their beliefs and to become more globally aware. Once Americans started listening to his music, they adopted that genre as part of their popular culture at the time. The “before-and-after” transformation seen in both films truly make each a unique masterpiece.
I would recommend this movie to anyone and everyone, regardless of their interest in the music industry. This documentary changed my views of John Lennon and the history of rock-and-roll music, and its fantastic portrayal of Lennon’s ideas in the midst of the Vietnam War inspired me to think more about his message to the public and to the U.S. government. Just as he and the rest of the nation protest the war in repeatedly singing, “All we are saying…is give peace a chance,” I highly advise you to give this movie a chance.