The Beatles - Let It Be (1970)

In The End

By Yahoo! Shopping User  May 29, 2003 | 1 out of 1 found this The Beatles - Let It Be (1970) review helpful

Roger Ebert once described “A Hard Day’s Night” as “springtime in the life of the Beatles” and he was certainly right. Joyous and uplifting, it is the greatest and most energetic rock and roll movie ever made. Nothing on MTV has ever come close to it, period. Or ever will, for that matter.

But if “A Hard Day’s Night” is springtime, then “Let It Be” is nothing short of a long, cold winter. The original idea was – like most Beatle ideas –an ambitious one. The band would write and rehearse an entire album, then perform that album live in front of aa audience. And the cameras would capture it all on film. But the Beatles of 1969 weren’t the same inseparable Fab Four of only a few years earlier. Relations within the band had grown as cold as the English winter, and with attentions being diverted in individual directions, no one had the patience for the project – or each other.

“Let It Be” captures this moment in time, just before the fall. The talent was certainly still there – months later they would regroup to record “Abbey Road” – but clearly little joy. Instead of seeing the natural charisma and camaraderie that defined the band, viewers see an unmotivated George taking heat from Paul about a guitar chord, John consumed by his passion for Yoko, and ever loyal Ringo watching it all fall apart from behind the drum kit. We’re there – dead center – for the rock and roll equivalent of “Scenes from a Marriage”. “Let It Be” is further haunted by the fact that things would disintegrate further still and the coming decade would be eaten up by animosity and dysfunction. Time that proved more valuable than they thought.

But the music - as always – transcends. These are still the Beatles after all, and the band rises to the occasion, most notably the historic impromptu roof concert. Here, if for one last moment, the Beatles recapture a little lost glory and mutual affection while peeling off a few killer licks. There will still plenty of those to be had – “Get Back” and “Two of Us” remain standouts from the sessions – but lighting the spark took more time and energy.

“Let It Be” proves that there are very few happy endings in rock and roll. The stories always start out great, as poets and prophets are plucked from out of nowhere to speak for a generation. But the endings are more often than not sad, as friendships fall to pieces, addiction takes its toll, or the ideals once cherished are lost. Like Fat Elvis, it is hard to watch the Fab Four lose their passion. It’s tougher to watch them turn on each other, especially when together they took on the world.