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 And she advises young filmmakers to cut expenses by using "out of date film and out moded equipment."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,

One to One: John and Yoko - A review

 

I was fortunate to see the new documentary film One to One: John and Yoko over the weekend.  It was by far one of the best John Lennon documentaries I have ever seen.   I know I most likely say that about every John documentary, but this one was exceptional in presentation, sound, and visuals. 

There is some confusion about this film, so let me clear up what this documentary is not.  It is NOT the full  One to One concert from 1972.  There are a lot of great songs from this concert during the film: Mother, Imagine, Hound Dog, Cold Turkey, Come Together, and several others were featured.  It is a documentary about the "New York" years of John's life  -- from when John and Yoko left England to when they separated in 1973.   

What I really appreciated about this documentary was that there wasn't a narrator or any "talking heads" to tell the story.   The story was told in a very creative way.  As we all know, John loved flipping the channels on American TV.  There was a recreation of John and Yoko's Bank Street apartment, and it showed the television at the foot of the bed.  The whole story was told as if we were flipping through the channels along with John.  Early 1970s clips from TV shows, news footage, and commercials were shown.  I really loved this way of telling the story because the only words that were used were words from that time period, including those of John and Yoko.

Because John knew his phone was tapped during this period, he started recording his phone calls so that he would have a record of what the government had recorded.  Some of those phone calls were in this documentary and were great.  A lot of really good insights about the breakup of the Beatles and John's mindset during that time.  I had to think about how naive John was initially and how he quickly became wise to what was happening.  

There was so much footage that I had never seen before, including new television interviews and home video footage of John and Yoko in Massachusetts.  

What really blew me away, though, was how crisp and clean all of the footage looked. There was a very short clip from the "Freetime" television show (the program where the guy fell off the ladder), and it was crystal clear! Throughout the entire showing, I kept going, "Wow—that looks great... wow!"

The film will be showing on Amazon Prime for rent starting May 8.   I highly recommend everyone see it.  I will include the Amazon affiliate link once it is available. 

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Daytime Revolution: A Film Review

 

Photos by Michael Leshnov, courtesy Kino Lorber

My job as an instructional coach for reading and literacy teachers around America has taken me to interesting places over the past year. Fortunately, it took me to New York City on October 9, 2024, where I could view the film Daytime Revolution at the Quad Theater. 

Over the past few years, I have seen many documentaries about John and Yoko. As you would have guessed, I have enjoyed them all.   Daytime Revolution is my favorite one since The U.S. vs. John Lennon.  

In early 1972, John and Yoko were co-hosts of the Mike Douglas Show.   Years ago, I read Mike Douglas' autobiography, so I knew that if you were asked to co-host, then you would have to choose who the guests were going to be on the show for the week.   I also know that it was a bit misleading.   The co-hosts really weren't on for a straight week.  They recorded over several weeks, and after 5 shows, they showed them all as if they were recorded one day after the other and were live. 

When John and Yoko hosted the talk show, they picked the guests and chose people who were pretty radical. These were the types of people that ladies and sick children who were watching daytime television weren't used to seeing on their screens at that time of day.   That is what this documentary is all about- the stories of the guests who were on the show and everything that happened when John and Yoko were co-hosts.

Many performers, musicians, politicians, and the cooking segment women were interviewed and looked back on their time on the show, telling previously unheard stories of John and Yoko.   I found the duo called "Yellow Pearl" to be very good and the story told by one of the singers is really great.  The way the director wrote the modern-day interviews with the 1972 interviews was amazing and made the documentary very riveting. 

As far as I was concerned, the highlight of the film was seeing John with Chuck Berry. The color is so vibrant in the film that you can see how purple Chuck's shirt really was. The sound of the performances was outstanding. But the smile on John's face and the excitement that he had while singing with Berry almost jumped off the screen. We got to witness one of the best moments of John's life—performing with his musical hero.  Even if you have seen this footage a million times on YouTube, seeing it in this film is like seeing it again for the first time.  

I also appreciated that the entire performance of John singing "Imagine" was included in the film. Usually, only part of a song is shown in a documentary, but I want to thank the filmmakers for keeping the full performance.

During the week of co-hosting, John and Yoko passed around a canvas that was signed by all of the guests and folks in the audience.  It was said it was going to be auctioned off for a charity at the end of the week.   Does anyone know anything about this?   Was it auctioned off?  Who has it and where is it now?  Does anyone recall seeing the canvas in an auction in the past 50 years?   Do you think someone has it tucked away under a bed somewhere?

I hope that the entire Mike Douglas Show with John and Yoko gets released on Blu-Ray very soon.  It was out as a VHS set back at a time when I couldn't afford it, so I have never seen the entire show.  

The film is still showing at a few select theaters around the country.  Catch it if you haven't seen it yet and it is near you.   Otherwise, you will have to wait until November when it will be out on Blu-Ray and DVD.   It is well worth your money to get it.  I know that I want to see it again.

If you are interested in pre-ordering the DVD or Blu-Ray here is the the Amazon link for the pre-orders.  Anything ordered from this affiliate link supports this page with a small percentage of the sale. Thank you for your support. 

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One Hand Clapping - A Review

This weekend, I saw the film "One Hand Clapping," made by Paul McCartney and 1974-era Wings. I hope many of you were able to see it as well. Much to my surprise, the film started with 2024-era Paul telling us all about what we were about to see and how much he enjoyed the music from Wings.    

I had always believed that Paul never released this film in the 1970s because he didn't think the music was good enough for release.   If that is true, then Paul was wrong.   As soon as Wings started the first song, "Jet," you could tell they would rock.   This mini-concert at EMI Studios on Abbey Road was fun, rockin', put a smile on your face, and enjoy type of stuff.   Many of Wing's now classic songs, such as "Band on the Run," "Live and Let Die," "1985," and "C'Moon/Little Woman Love," were performed.  Paul, alongside Linda, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch, and Geoff Britton, looked like they were having the time of their lives, and we were allowed to sit in and enjoy right alongside them. 

Paul also treated us to some numbers where he was at the piano—"My Love," "Suicide," and "I'll Give You a Ring" were great, but my favorites were "Bluebird" and "Maybe I'm Amazed."   Actually, the "One Hand Clapping" version of "Maybe I'm Amazed" is now my favorite version of that song.  I used to like the Wings Over America version the best, but it has been officially bumped out of the #1 position. 

You get to see cameo appearances by Geoff Emrick and Howie Casey (who does an amazing sax solo on Bluebird with Paul almost standing on top of him).  

Just when you think the party is over and the credits start to roll (and one guy in the theater actually got up and left), Paul returns and talks about the "Backyard" footage.  This second part was just as much fun as the first.  Paul sits with his guitar in a grassy area behind EMI studios and plays some of his favorite songs, including "20 Flight Rock," "Peggy Sue," and a big hit at the theater where I was in St. Louis, "Sweet Little Sixteen."   Sure, Paul mixes up the lyrics, but it is all part of the intimacy of feeling like you are right there with him behind Abbey Road.  

The entire show ran a little over an hour and was so much fun that I wish it was longer.   My biggest complaint, as I am sure is the biggest complaint of everyone who saw it, was that the footage has not been cleaned up at all.   It looks like a bootleg of a bootleg.   Was that the look Paul was going for?  The screen was blurry, there were "halos" around the people, and all of the colors were dull.  Has the original film been lost to time and has nothing to work with?  Did they borrow someone's bootleg copy and make a copy using a VHS player?   I do not understand how this could be released in such poor shape.   Maybe I am just spoiled by Peter Jackson's treatment of Get Back.   I hate that this Wings footage looks so bad because I want it to be preserved for the future.   

However, I can't be too upset over it.  I would rather have crappy-looking Wings footage than no Wings footage.  And the sound was great. I just hope someone can clean up this film before it goes on Blu-Ray or streaming.   Paul and his bandmates deserve to look the best. 

It is no longer showing at theaters, but if you haven't gotten the album and you like Paul McCartney, you have to get it!   It is SO good!

If you are interested, please use this Amazon affiliate link.   I make a small percentage of the sales I use for the annual fee to keep this site running.  

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