Beatles fans, don't miss 'LENNONYC' on PBS
John Lennon on rooftop in New York City. August, 29 1974. MUST credit: Bob Gruen / www.bobgruen.com This photograph may only be used in conjunction with articles and/or reviews of "LENNONYC" documentary by American Masters. No other use, electronic, print or air rights whatsoever granted herein. Any usage of this image must be credited: Bob Gruen / www.bobgruen.com Credit: BOB GRUEN / WWW.BOBGRUEN.COM/
"We were New Yorkers in our mind," says Yoko Ono, interviewed at some length and who pretty much made this extraordinary film possible.
And so they were: Entering New York in 1971 to stay, John and Yoko were devoted to a troubled city, and their story segues to causes when he is enlisted by Abbie Hoffman to marshal anti-war support, placing Lennon in the crosshairs of the Nixon administration, which initiates a long battle over deportation.
Fabled stories are recounted, including Lennon's banishment to Los Angeles - his months-long "lost weekend" - the drunken trashing of Hollywood, the return to NYC, followed by a blissful and productive work life. Sean is born the same day the deportation case is dropped. And then, on Dec. 8, 1980. . . . Less than a minute is given to the tragedy, although Ono reveals that she asked the doctor not to release news of his death "because it felt if he didn't announce it, then for some crazy reason John would still be alive."
MY SAY
Lennon was as much a part of New York City in the '70s as the Mets, subway graffiti or the World Trade Center. And then, suddenly, he was gone. For many who still have a hard time assimilating that long-ago night, the memory of Lennon probably remains conjoined to an unspeakable act of insanity. Or perhaps it remains conjoined to Albert Goldman's caustic and unforgiving bio published in 1988. Insistently life-affirming - and myth-affirming, too - "LENNONYC" says goodbye to all that. The pain of Dec. 8 is crumpled up in a ball and tossed over our collective shoulder, while Goldman's fraught "Lives" of Lennon are reduced to just one: A rich and fulfilled one that revolved around music, Ono, Sean and the city by the Hudson.
Veteran PBS producer Michael Epstein ("Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood") has interviewed dozens - including guitarist Earl Slick, rock photographer Bob Gruen, Elton John and, of course, Ono - who all establish something we either forgot or perhaps never even knew: That Lennon was happy, gregarious, generous and nurturing. There's no "brooding" genius here - occasionally a blotto-ed one, yes - because Lennon adapted so well to the spirit of New York. Meanwhile, Ono - Madame Defarge to Beatles' fans whose memories die hard - gets a nice makeover in "LENNONYC" as well.
BOTTOM LINE
Must see for Lennon fans. Period.
GRADE
A
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