Get Back - The Beatles film

 The Guardian asked for reactions to the 'new' Beatles film, so here's mine:

A fascinating film, full of insights and revelations. 

Big surprises? Here are just a few:

History hasn't been kind to Beatles manager Brian Epstein - said to be a man out of his depth and responsible for some lousy business decisions and contracts. Yet the Beatles, especially Paul McCartney, miss the man and speak fondly of him. He had their respect and was someone they listened to - not so easy perhaps, in an outfit that featured one John Winston Ono Lennon. 

Yoko Ono is definitely a listener, in fact the surprise is that she rarely seems to talk at all. Far from being "the fifth Beatle" as John Lennon once described her, she's more of a permanent audience, often looking a bit bored, sometimes writing, sometimes knitting, but ever present. With the best will in the world, it's hard to respond to her occasional artistic performative "singing" as anything other than ludicrous. 

But in the film at least, the closest relationship is between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Between them they seem to get 80% of the dialogue and maybe 90% of the screen time. But it's easy to see why - that word 'chemistry' is inadequate to describe how well they get on - both personally and musically. This runs against the received wisdom, which has them growing inexorably further apart during this period. 

George Harrison is the most sympathetic of the four. Initially he seems a man who feels excluded from the creative process, and who lacks the confidence to assert himself. Then he goes snaps and walks out on the band, who respond with a musical version of a nervous breakdown that afternoon. Then Harrison returns and as the month of rehearsing and recording goes on, he seems happier and more confident. The negative comparisons to people like Eric Clapton disappear. A day or two before the rooftop concert, he's the one who's helping Ringo expand the idea for Octopus's Garden into a song.

George Martin looks and sounds like the leading man from some 1940s British romantic film. Like the colours of those films, he wears white shirts with black and grey suits that always feature immaculate pocket squares. He's so out of place, of such a different class and generation to the Beatles and almost everyone else hanging around. But the relationship is so much closer and friendly than you'd assume. He's also got great musical gifts and a willingness to help with anything - at one point he's lugging some big create around like any roadie. None the less it's surprise how much the much younger  Glynn Johns does in the studio control room compared to George Martin.

And so the film goes - surprising, fascinating, and occasionally frustrating - do the Beatles really have to degenerate into parody and mockery so often when they try and play a song from start to finish? Or are we getting highly selective edits because they're funny and the normal recording/rehearsal process is a bit boring? We're seeing arguably the four most famous men in the world in January 1969, and yet they're so grounded, and even at times (sorry Ringo Starr) quite ordinary. 

There's so much to discuss - I haven't even mentioned the effortless happy genius of Billy Preston, who revives the entire crew when sits at the keyboard and does his stuff, completely unrehearsed. There's also the happy accident that the Beatles of 1969 are currently looking more fashionable and contemporary than they have for 50 years or so. Equally contemporary is the misery of Britain's relationship with immigrants - perhaps the saddest and most shocking theme of the film. 

But it's wrong to finish on a bum note - the Beatles never would. This is life-affirming look at the best band in history towards the end of their amazing run. Yes, perhaps the second part of the three is a little too long. But we should thank Michael Lindsay-Hogg's team in 1969, and of course Peter Jackson today for viewing and re-editing all the footage. This is a priceless film of the best music group of the 20th century at work. From now on it will be appreciated and enjoyed by anyone who likes music.