John Lennon Shines On In New Documentary Posted by CN Staff on September 04, 2006 at 14:32:28 PT By Kirk Honeycutt Source: Reuters
Los Angeles -- We live, as the pundits say, in the United States of Amnesia. Even so, did the makers of "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," an inquiry into our government's bizarre attempt to neutralize the perceived political juice of that famed English singer-songwriter, really need to spend half the movie explaining the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement to viewers? If things are really that bad, then perhaps the filmmakers should explain who John Lennon is. After all, the Beatles date back over 40 years.
For those who do remember or are aware of the zeitgeist of the counterculture, this lengthy regurgitation of well-known history mars an otherwise interesting probe into a strange sidebar of the Nixon administration's attempt to suppress those who publicly challenged its failed military and political strategies in Vietnam. For those who do need to be brought up to speed, writer-producer-directors David Leaf and John Scheinfeld throw in too many subjects -- from the rise of the Black Panthers to Watergate -- without sufficient sociopolitical context. A newcomer would indeed get lost. The guts of the matter, the administration's failed effort to deport Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono -- presumably in the delusional belief that one of the world's most famous individuals would go unnoticed if returned to his native soil -- is fascinating. Especially so in light of our current administration's fetish for spying on Americans without warrants and attempts to silence critics by questioning their patriotism or intestinal fortitude.
The movie starts with a now somewhat obscure figure, John Sinclair, a poet and band manager whose lengthy incarceration in Michigan on marijuana charges triggered a 12-hour concert in December 1971, broadcast throughout the U.S. Lennon appeared along with many other musical acts. The Michigan Supreme Court released Sinclair three days later. This, according the movie's talking heads, alerted the Nixon White House to Lennon's sway over young people, who were now able to vote thanks to the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
So the administration hatched the idea of getting Lennon deported on trumped-up charges. The deportation case dragged on for several years. During this time, various government agencies made certain the couple were aware they were being followed and their phones tapped. Little wonder that Ono, in an interview, insists that the pair thought if they went to the 1972 Republican Convention in Miami, they would be "in danger of their lives." She offers no proof of this, however.
A couple of ex-FBI agents agree that the agency under J. Edgar Hoover became a political police force to disrupt and harm those who opposed the war. It falls to the most infamous Nixon official, G. Gordon Liddy, one of the least self-aware individuals ever in political life, to make an even stronger case against the government through his bellicose and belligerent statements against Lennon and the anti-war movement.
Other talking heads include journalists Walter Cronkite and Carl Bernstein, anti-war activist Ron Kovic, novelist Gore Vidal and Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern.
The thing that shines through most clearly, though, is Lennon himself. His widow allowed unprecedented access to the family archives, which along with ample newsreel footage bring us his presence once again. His larkish sense of humor and quick, native intelligence is a breath of fresh air in this age of shrill, strident voices from all segments of the political spectrum. He is dearly missed.
The thing that shines through most clearly, though, is Lennon himself. His widow allowed unprecedented access to the family archives, which along with ample newsreel footage bring us his presence once again. His larkish sense of humor and quick, native intelligence is a breath of fresh air in this age of shrill, strident voices from all segments of the political spectrum. He is dearly missed.
I agree with Sandra - this is enough to make me want to go see it!
I just saw the commercial on VH1. I CAN'T WAIT!!!! The commercial alone makes me miss Lennon. Just listening to him speak makes me sad that he's not around anymore. He was brilliant. I hope the movie does well. I mean, I think people now are missing out because he's gone. What an interesting guy he was. Anyway, here's a couple of more reviews that say some interesting stuff about Yoko. One also says this movie will run on VH1, so those living in countries where the movie is not playing in theaters will be able to see it I guess. As long as they get VH1.
The U.S. vs. John Lennon
(Documentary)
With: Carl Bernstein, Noam Chomsky, Walter Cronkite, Angela Davis, Ron Kovic, G. Gordon Liddy, George McGovern, Yoko Ono, David Peel, Geraldo Rivera, Bobby Seale, John Sinclair, Tom Smothers, Jon Weiner, Leon Wildes.
By PHIL GALLO
Yoko Ono and John Lennon give the 'power' salute in 'The U.S. vs. John Lennon.'
To track the transformation of John Lennon from adored Beatle to government-stalked peace advocate is David Leaf's stated intention for "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," and the pic persuasively chronicles an artist sticking to his guns through activism. But by getting Yoko Ono to cooperate and open the vaults, the storyline follows the Ono-approved bio that posits Lennon as saint, excising his dark periods and their years apart, which could have enhanced the portrait. Lennon maniacs likely will flock to early screenings, and pic also should do well with the politically minded, though connecting anti-war goings-on during Nixon's day with the current Bush-bashing is a stretch. By isolating Lennon's political life and eventually his role as doting father, Leaf and John Scheinfeld make it appear a singular focus for the man in his post-Beatles years. He was an idealist calling for world peace who realized "flower power" was a failure, and an artist whose use of direct language made him an ideal proselyte among the anti-war leadership populated by dogmatic rabble-rousers. "All we are saying/Is give peace a chance" was so clear and simple that it threatened the Nixon administration, which led to wire-tapping, surveillance and a deportation order.
"He was a high-profile figure, so his activities were monitored," G. Gordon Liddy says matter-of-factly, a chilling reminder of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. Liddy, however, is the one defender of the U.S. in this docu. The rest of the talking heads -- all of whom had roles in Lennon's life, from spokesman Elliot Mintz to Black Panther Bobby Seale to musicians, lawyers and politicians -- expound on the government's folly.
For the viewers who were there, "U.S. vs. John Lennon" will be a reminder of Lennon's valor and no-retreat mindset; for the under-35 set attracted to the cogency of songs such as "Imagine," "Instant Karma," "Love" and "Revolution," this could be a vital documenting of the government's subversive behavior.
It starts a couple of weeks before Christmas 1971 as Lennon appears at a benefit for John Sinclair, an anti-war radical and manager of the MC5, who is doing hard time for selling two joints to an undercover cop. The FBI is aware of Lennon's ability to sway crowds, and he has surrounded himself with radical friends, specifically leaders of the Yippies and Black Panthers.
Docu steps back to the Beatles' first significant controversy, Lennon's statement about the Fab Four having a greater impact in young people's lives than Jesus, a statement that gets blown out of proportion and leads to many anti-Beatles rallies. There's footage from Vietnam, peace marches and protests in London. It's fascinating to watch the Beatles at a press conference when a political question is asked; Lennon goes full force in delivering an answer as the others grow viscerally uncomfortable.
Then he meets Ono.
"When he found Yoko, he found the rest of his voice," Mintz says, and indeed Lennon's activism blossoms. The occasional song at the end of the Beatles' eight-year run gives way to a seven-day protest staged in their honeymoon bed. It was her performance art conceits finding a perfect partner in his celebrity, wittiness and ambition; they attracted attention and put words such as "bagism" into the vernacular.
That celebrity led to Lennon's appearances on TV talkshows, allowing him access to middle-class America to discuss radical political thought. (What slips through the cracks here is the reality that Lennon has already changed the world in terms of music, fashion and art and now has his sights on politics and social order. He is only 30 years old.)
Sen. Strom Thurmond proposes pulling Lennon's visa, claiming a pot bust in England made him an undesirable. Lennon is given until March 15, 1972, to leave the country, but he chooses to fight it with immigration attorney Leon Wildes, who sues John Mitchell and his cronies, charging conspiracy. In one of life's happier examples of kismet, Lennon is given his green card on his birthday, hours after his son Sean is born.
Forty of Lennon's tunes -- 37 from his solo career -- are used pointedly, out of chronological order and tied to the visuals thematically. Equally effective are the instrumental versions of his songs -- the actual backing tracks minus vocals -- that serve as a score throughout.
While the songs help paint a portrait of a man who relied on honesty and immediacy in his writing, the more one knows Lennon minutiae, the more jarring the out-of-sequence music will seem. But "U.S." is not aiming to display the evolution of Lennon as a songwriter, but as an artist who turned personal experience into words with universal appeal.
Pic debuts at the Venice, Telluride and Toronto festivals before theatrical release Sept. 15. It also will run on VH1, which helped with financing, as part of its rock documentary series.
"The U.S. vs. John Lennon"
There's a deja' vu moment about this documentary. Haven't we seen all this before? Hasn't the subject been considered and reconsidered? Isn't it all but exhausted? I'm not going to tell you that this is a fresh new look and for that, worth doing and presenting. The argument I would make for seeing this film is that it pays to re-address it because so much time has elapsed that the perspective has changed. So have the people who were involved. Put that together with a certain amount of new footage and a smart editorial structure and you have a well made and well-intended look back.
Besides those who play themselves in the archival footage, the band of usual and unusual suspects brought in for on-camera interviews to look back from their particular perspectives is a valuable list. Consider insights from such observers of the period as Carl Bernstein, Noam Chomsky, Walter Cronkite, Mario Cuomo, Angela Davis, John Dean, Ron Kovic, G. Gordon Liddy, George McGovern, Bobby Seale, Tommy Smothers, Gore Vidal and Yoko Ono.
Of all of them, Ono is the main surprise. She's more articulate than I've ever seen her, as though she's abandoned her reasons for holding back now that she's in her mature years and, in the archival footage, better represented than ever as a primary contributant and full confederate in her husband's activist ways. She gives us an inside glimpse of Lennon's thinking, fears and satisfactions. Plus, finally, from this footage I never saw before, I got an idea of what he saw in her in the first place.
Confined to the period of 1966-1976, the film traces the man who used his well-established fame, universal love and inspirational credentials to attempt to be influential on the thoughts of his time, most particularly to the mistakes of the Vietnam morass. The primary dramatic setting is the underlying attacks that bore down on him as the U.S. government, then headed by Richard Nixon, and the FBI, then headed by J. Edgar Hoover, and other political miscreants and operatives fearful of losing the upcoming election, began to get the idea that Lennon's mass of followers might bring them down and put George McGovern into the oval office.
The interviews and clips are assembled well by directors-cowriters David Leaf and John Scheinfeld with good narrative flow. Their new snapshot of the issue will justify a look-see for a curious audience looking for the fuller picture of the events surrounding a most extraordinary artist. And, if you were thinking our times are unsettled.
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John had more balls speaking out as an anti-war activist than celebrities these days like Michael Moore, Sean Penn & Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks doing it against Iraq & Bush because he meant it & never alienated Beatles fans who disagreed with him. I do have to say that I agreed with him sometimes politically since in interviews he never came off as crazy, but I disagreed with Lennon's comments as well as an anti-war activist, but he made more sense than Jane Fonda & Jerry Rubin. JL wasn't a phony as a person or an artist & still made great music unlike celebrities today speaking out against Bush & Iraq I think for publicity reasons & it's so damn predictable, which is why it cracks me up & it's not believable at all.
I want you, I want you so bad babe. I want you, I want you so bad. It's driving me mad, it's driving me mad.
I don't see why John's 'activism' was more believable than that of any artist that speaks out against Bush now. To me it seemed mostly like a bored rock star that had seen it all and was looking for something new to do. He didn't exactly stand on the barricades or anything.
And how doesn't Michael Moore 'have balls'? You can disagree with him, but you can't deny that it takes some serious guts to do what he does. I bet there are a lot of people that want to hurt or even kill him for what he said, wrote and did.
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It doesn't take any guts at all to do what Michael Moore did with his silly documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. I don't take him seriously & don't plan on taking him seriously anytime soon, because it's all about sensationalism than facts.
I want you, I want you so bad babe. I want you, I want you so bad. It's driving me mad, it's driving me mad.
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