Meet the Beatles for Real: Cannes

Showing posts with label Cannes. Show all posts

Thursday, August 6, 2026

Paul French Interview on McCartney II (1980)

When Paul and Linda were in Cannes in 1980, they did several interviews with the press in France. This interview was from a radio interview Paul gave and it was printed in the July 1980 issue of "With a Little Help From My Friends."

Paul McCartney interview with Europe number 1

Q: Do you mind that at each press conference, people always ask the same old questions about the Beatles?

A. Yeah, yeah. You know, it always comes out. It's okay. Pas de problemes (in French, no problem.)

Q : Let us speak about the new album McCartney II. 10 years ago, you did the first McCartney album all alone. Why did it occur to you to do the second album all alone?

A. When I did it the first time, it was only an experiment, and I really enjoyed doing it because it's a very easy way for me to work. I don't have to ask questions, and I just do it. In the meantime, I worked with Wings, and after we finished Egg, I wanted to do something on my own. I just rented a machine like a cassette and just one or two mics, and made this album. Purely again, just for an experiment. I didn't intend to release it, but some people heard it, and they said that it would be a good album, and they twisted my arm.

Q: Is it a concept album, or had you some musical ideas to express?

A: No, the idea for the album was to work in a different way than I ordinarily work. So what I used to do was arrive in the studio early in the morning to play some drums, bass, and guitar. Then I tried to figure out what the song would be. Ordinarily, I write the song before and then I record, but this time I made the recording first and thought about the songs afterwards, which is an interesting way to work for me. It's a reverse of the normal way.

Q: "Coming Up" is really a gimmick?

A: Yes, but you know some of my best records are just gimmicks. It's a very simple song, but some people apparently like it.

Q: We saw the video on TV you made for the single's promotion. How did you manage to play all those characters at the same time?

A: Well, I just had to play the drums first, and then by special techniques, I did all the other people in two days. It was very difficult to imagine that there was somebody near me. It was like working on a cartoon that we would have to add to afterwards. But it was great fun doing it because I had to imagine. 'Oh yes, there you are', and I smiled to somebody who wasn't there. It was fun to do. I just dressed up for two days and made it all up.

Q: We recognize some characters in the video.

A: Yes, I talked with the director, and we settled loosely on using people who actually exist. The bass player-that's me 10 years ago. And there was Ron Hale from Sparks. I had fun doing it, you know. And there is Hank Marvin from the Shadows. Somebody thinks that it could be Buddy Holly, but for me, I wasn't as thin in the face as he was. And the rest were just loosely about some characters we knew. There was a Japanese guitarist whom we don't know really. The drummer is nobody in particular.

Q: And the horns?

A: The horns? Yeah, it's just like Teddy Boys. There is one at the end who's a hippie, but he can't dance. It's fun because I had to dance without my shoes.

Q: About "Temporary Secretary", there's an odd tempo mainly with the keyboards.

A: Yes, on "T Secretary", it's a thing called a sequencer, and it's the same thing. I think The Who used it in "Ballo O'Reilly", but with this one, you could make (Paul makes a noise with his tongue.) It's like a rhythm box (he makes the noise again) I did that for five minutes, and then I just tried to think of the song to go with it, which was great fun.

Q. May I ask you about the last song on the album?

A: Oh, "Waterfalls?" It's a ballad, and some of my friends like it. For me, it's very difficult. When you just end one album, it's hard to say what is wrong or what is good because we are too close to it, but according to the reaction of my friends who phoned me from L.A. and said, 'Oh, that's a great song', "Waterfalls" is the song they seem to like the best.

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Yoko Ono's Films Are Funny Buzz-Ness (1971)

Yoko Ono's Films Are Funny Buzz-Ness

By Les Wedman

The Vancouver Sun

June 4, 1971

(Cannes) John Lennon may be a better singer than Yoko Ono, but she makes better films than he does. His Apotheosis drew catcalls when it was shown at the film festival here, but her offbeat The Fly was greeted with applause.

Yoko claims she makes films in order to"change the world", but it seems hardly likely that The Fly will do that. Lennon obviously has nothing as lofty as that in mind. He says he was happy that the two short films were seen here during the festival, because "otherwise they'd only get shown at home, wouldn't they?"

He admits he doesn't know much about filmmaking, and what he has learned so far he has picked up from Yoko, who, incidentally, looks better in the flesh than she photographs. Her idealism, however, is the same.

She said she doesn't believe that films should cost a lot of money to make, not when there are "so many starving children in the world". And she advises young filmmakers to cut expenses by using "out of date film and out moded equipment." She made The Fly for less than $150.

"We don't all believe in the Hollywood type thing", Lennon said. And then his wife expressed interest in helping others to make movies. Lennon interjected with, " We're not a walking charity, though people should help themselves, and I only help people who appeal to me personally."

Apotheosis describes the ascent of a balloon above an English village, and much of it is nothing but masses of white clouds. Said Lennon, "I couldn't direct it once they got way up there."

Yoko's The Fly, shot mostly in close-ups, explores every-- but every --part of a nude woman asleep on a bed. Finally, the fly is joined by others, and they all take part in a tour of discovery.

How were the flies kept from flying away? And how could the girl remain perfectly immobile throughout what is actually a beautifully done, if meaningless, movie?

Yoko said they tried honey on the girl's body, along with sugar and water, but both were too visible, so they used a tranquilizing gas. "Both the flies and the girl were stoned," Lennon said.

He said he has no plans for another film. The reaction to Apotheosis was what he expected: "half angry, half hysterical, and that's fine." If he ever makes another film, Lennon said he probably won't use actors. "I don't know what actors are; that would be a lot of work, and I like to do things easily."

Accepting a compliment on his own acting and Richard Lester's How I Won the War, Lennon said it was interesting to see how a director works, but having to perform is not rewarding enough. "It wasn't worth it. If Yoko asked me to be in a film, though, I would do it." He said he has a secret wish to be a comedian (actually, there's nothing secret about it), so he would like to do a comedy.

"This is the age of making films without money," said Yoko. "Let's go on making lots of films and changing the world with it," she concluded.

Lennon had the last word. "Yoko made another movie called Bottoms, which had a cast of 200, and that only cost £50 to make." That wasn't a world-shaking film either,

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

John and Yoko Are a Hit (1971)

John and Yoko are a Hit

From Women's Wear Daily

The Houston Post

May 31, 1971

There was a private party in Cannes for French director Louis Malle, but John Lennon and Yoko Ono showed up and stole most of the spotlight. Malle's new film, Le Souffle au Coeur, was the big flick of the day at the festival.

But when John and Yoko walked in, he was nearly lost in the rush of photographers. John's 16-minute short feature, Apotheosis, and Yoko's The Fly were shown later in the evening, and the couple was promoting them.

John, not one to be shy about finances, wore a big placard around his neck advertising their book, Grapefruit. Yoko looked a bit plump in a very tight black hot pants with a black turtleneck and boots. She hid behind her huge brown shades, and John peered out with his best bored expression from behind his yellow granny glasses. He was regally attired in faded blue jeans and jacket.

He, Yoko, and Malle talked while the cameras clicked. About half the crowd were young students and journalists dressed in scruffy hippie garb, while the establishment crowd showed up in dinner clothes. Buck Henry, promoting the official American entry in which he stars, Taking Off, was in his navy blazer with a red lining and his new reddish beard. The ubiquitous Rex Reed wore little blue sneakers, a red-and-white bandanna shirt, and his shoulder bag.

Some little French urchin girls sneaked past the guard and wandered through the crowd, selling plastic dolls for a franc. They crushed barefoot over broken wine glasses without a change of tired expression.

Jenne Moreau was nearly mobbed when she arrived in a red Citroen to call for her old friend Malle. She stepped out on the boulevard in a long, brightly flowered dress, and the delighted crowd rushed toward her. The police got her and Malle safely into the car and away, along with Yoko and John, while the crowd finished off the free wine and food.