John Lennon was calling for something big, he wanted something revolutionary to happen, something that would shake up the world and let the government realize that the people would not and could not be bullied in to war. He wanted peace, and as wholly naive as it may have seemed on the outside, it was a goal that was possible if we’d just try it out. It hurts to think that his words were in vain and that everything this man believed and taught went away in a hail of apathy, comfort, and luxury with technology and the man meant every single word.
It’s proven with 14 year old Josh Braskin’s attempts to interview Lennon in 1969 in a hotel lobby where Josh approached him to ask him questions. Lennon never questions him, Lennon never tells him to fuck off, he instead obliges every single question as best as he can. The man known as John Lennon was one of a kind, a man who would live a tragic life but use that tragedy to spread good and promote peace in a way that people like Bono exploit for fame and fortune. Lennon has some rather incredible ideas to share with Braskin not resorting to blaming the government, but instead pitting the blame on the people. “We do it to ourselves,” Lennon insists, “We let them put us in to war.”
This engrossing interview only hints at an interview that could have been conducted for five hours, and I guarantee you people would have listened. Because John Lennon had things to say and they were insightful, poetic, and witty; as a Beatles geek, as a Lennon buff, I have to recommend this, if not for Lennon’s incredible words, but because of the brilliant art by James Braithwaite while Alex Kurina’s own digital imagery of war, violence, and Lennon’s own images brings to mind one of my favorite music videos “Megalomaniac” by Incubus.
The direction by Josh Braskin not only helps to indicate to the audience how much of a student he was of Lennon’s ideology, but how much Lennon’s words and theories made sense not only as a societal tool, but as words to live by. It’s just a shame all of what he taught and begged from people has been forgotten aside from a select few who you know… choose to live by what they want and not what society dictates. I think Lennon would frown. If this movie touches just one young person, I think he’d be satisfied.