The good karma is instant in riveting ‘John & Yoko’
If you’re a fan of The Beatles – and who isn’t? – you won’t want to miss “One to One: John & Yoko,” a fascinating documentary that vividly captures John Lennon and Yoko Ono at the beginning of what was to be a decade-long bittersweet love affair with New York City. Composed of a priceless collection of restored and never-before-seen footage, the film, assembled by co-directors Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards, culminates with the Aug. 30, 1972, One to One benefit in Madison Square Garden, the only full-length post-Beatles concert Lennon ever staged.
The movie begins 18 months earlier, in 1971, less than a year after The Beatles’ infamous breakup and in what would turn out to be the peak of Lennon’s solo success. Riding high on the brilliance of what is often referred to as “The Tree Album,” Lennon was just months away from releasing his masterpiece, “Imagine,” with its title cut destined to become the international anthem for peace. We hear it performed in concert here, as well as electrifying renditions of “Mother,” “Give Peace a Chance,” “Instant Karma” and “Cold Turkey,” all pristinely remastered by the couple’s son, Sean Ono Lennon.
The music is the drawing card, but what seduces you is how the movie penetrates the mythos to capture John and Yoko as down-to-earth people determined to make the world a better place through their activism. But more so by inspiring others to join with them in a multi-pronged effort to end the war in Vietnam, champion gender and racial equality and expose the criminality of Richard Nixon. We’re told they drew their inspiration from the events they witnessed unfolding on the small color TV positioned prominently at the foot of their bed in their tiny, two-room Greenwich Village apartment.
Working from photos of the flat, the filmmakers construct a replica set, recreating the interior as it existed when John and Yoko lived there after dramatically downsizing from their 700-acre estate just outside London. As the camera pans around the room, you almost feel a ghostly presence, envisioning the couple snuggled together, cuddled in bed, appalled by the death and injustice broadcast on the nightly news. Not to mention the surging materialism promoted by Madison Avenue that signaled the end of hippy communalism and the dawn of the “me generation.”
“To John’s mind, there is a new urgency in the air,” we hear Ono declare amid the counterculture’s growing apathy. “They think there is nothing worthwhile to do,” Lennon adds. “They want to take refuge in drugs to destroy themselves. Our work is to tell them that there is still hope and still a lot to do.”
On cue, we’re treated to footage of the couple rubbing elbows with Yippy leader Jerry Rubin and Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, igniting a revolution, but one they insist remains peaceful. It was a stipulation that would eventually be broken and lead them to sever ties with Rubin when he advocated for violence at the 1972 Republican National Convention. But that didn’t stop Nixon from adding the Lennons to his notorious “enemies list,” marking them for deportation.
Yes, it was a wild, dangerous time for the couple and somewhat portentous knowing what was to happen the night of Dec. 8, 1980. You’re astounded that the Lennons aren’t more aware of how vulnerable they make themselves by presenting themselves as regular New Yorkers, no different than the construction worker who flashes them the peace sign as they exit an immigration hearing.
To the film’s credit, it doesn’t relegate Ono to second-class status. Her artistic pursuits are highlighted almost as much as her husband’s, particularly by way of a humorous subplot showcasing the tireless efforts of Ono’s aides to round up hundreds of flies for one of her exhibits. And, fortunately or unfortunately, we are “treated” to her song session during the One to One concert, staged to help alleviate the deplorable conditions at the Willowbrook School for mentally challenged kids.
We learn that Ono’s true aim at the time was to prove her legitimacy as Lennon’s partner, particularly in the wake of unsubstantiated rumors that she caused the breakup of The Beatles. Amid the constant trolling and death threats, Ono proclaims that before Lennon, “I was considered a bitch,” but that has since been “upgraded into a witch.” Cut to shots of Ono exploring the haunted city of Salem, Mass.
Yes, a little too on the nose on the part of the directors, but it’s one of the few times they blunder. Another is in the way they portray John and Yoko’s marriage as all hearts and roses. I suppose when your film’s successful completion is so dependent on the approval of Sean Lennon, you avoid the more tawdry subject matter. But to be honest, the hagiographic factor didn’t enter my mind until it was over.
Besides, what aficionado doesn’t know that shortly after moving Uptown from Greenwich Village to the Dakota in 1973, the couple split for a time, with John running off to L.A. with their personal assistant, May Pang? Conveniently, the film ends just before that escapade, but don’t let that dissuade you from seeing “One to One.” It’s a must-see for any devout Beatles worshipper, as well as a nostalgic reminder to aging Boomers about another turbulent time in our country. In some ways, it might have been worse. And younger viewers will enjoy the chance to discover how their parents’ and grandparents’ generation looked and behaved back in the day. But they, too, may lament the film’s failure to identify many of the people seen in the archival clips or heard during phone conversations that Lennon taped out of fear the feds had his phone tapped.
Like I said, nits that annoy but don’t detract from savoring a treasure trove of music and ideas while admiring a pair with the integrity to parlay celebrity not into cash but cachet impressive enough to dare change the world.
Movie review
One to One: John & Yoko
Rated: R for language, graphic nudity, drug use, some violent content
Featuring: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Jerry Rubin, Allen Ginsberg and The Plastic Ono Band
Directors: Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards
Runtime: 100 minutes
Where: In IMAX only on April 11 before going wide on April 18
Grade: B+
