Back to the Long and Winding Road: "The Beatles: Get Back" Review
★★★★1/2 (4.5/5)
It’s been less than 2 weeks since its release on Disney Plus and already Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back is being hailed as one of the most groundbreaking chronicles of music in our time. For one, because it examines the Fab Four at a storied crossroads with an extraordinary level of access. Secondly, it untangles the epic mythology behind their infamous breakup. The enduring myth behind their final days has plagued fans and historians for over 50 years—this yuletide season, we finally have the chance to be a fly on the wall of the most iconic finale in music history.
The Beatles: Get Back is an astonishing three-part docuseries that follows John, Paul, George, and Ringo in their ongoing struggle to find creative harmony while finishing their final album and landmark rooftop performance in London. Sifting through 22 days worth of archival footage originally captured for Michael Lindsey-Hogg’s documentary Let It Be (1970), Peter Jackson uses cutting-edge restorative techniques to re-immortalize the Fab Four and breathe new life into their fabled story.
Told in three 2.5 hour segments, Jackson gives a bounty of unfiltered context to The Beatles and their famously contentious dynamics. Creatively and personally, it explores the granular depths of their chemistry and delivers incredible perspective on the friction between all members of the band. While it can feel a little weighed down by its runtime, viewers also implicitly understand the importance of overexposure as a means to bring us closer to understanding each member.
“It’s been unseen for half a century and it’s our responsibility to show people this is the raw, honest Beatles”
Peter Jackson
Throughout the 7 total hours of runtime, viewers will come to better identify the strength of personality that played a huge factor in the band’s eventual split. As we come to find out, the four are incredibly self-aware of themselves, their talents, and their individual role within the band, which sometimes can complicate their dynamic as childhood friends who just love to play music. Though rifts clearly begin to emerge, at no point throughout this docuseries are we led to believe there’s an ounce of genuine disdain between any of them.
The docuseries does a great job of not just providing context for the band’s four members, but also those who are within their immediate orbit. At one point, Billy Preston comes into the London studio to jam with them, only to wind up sticking around when they realize how much his keyboard enlivens their sound. Additionally, Paul’s beautiful soon-to-be wife Linda Eastman and her daughter Heather are frequently shown during recording sessions. But the most insightful impression that comes to light is John’s legendarily peculiar relationship with Yoko Ono.
Throughout the three segments, Yoko is constantly shown sitting next to John during recording sessions and band meetings. Sometimes, he lovingly leans on her as he strums his guitar or grabs her for an impromptu dance while Paul plays the piano. Other times, she’s given the microphone to shriek like a banshee—yet still, the band plays on. The Beatles: Get Back makes it abundantly clear that, despite how perplexing their romance was, all members respected that John and Yoko were simply inextricable. At one point while discussing her presence, Paul sarcastically remarks that “they broke up because Yoko sat on an amp”—a joke that will come to foretell the next half-century of contentious dispute.
From a technical standpoint, the footage restoration is nothing short of spectacular and one could think of no better director to spearhead such a monumental project than Peter Jackson. The New Zealand-based filmmaker is no stranger to revival as is shown by his acclaimed World War I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old (2018). Using advanced restorative audio/visual techniques, he resurrected the sights and sounds of trench warfare an entire century prior.
Using similar technological advancements, Jackson brings 1969 back to life in all its vivid glory to re-immortalize The Beatles in living sound and color. From Ringo’s vibrant floral shirts to the steely twang of Lennon’s guitar during the opening strains of “I’ve Got a Feeling”, the movie delivers on several moments of jaw-dropping elation for how modern the footage really feels. The sharp realism emotes contagious energy that helps demonstrate how some artists can transcend the boundaries of a generational divide.
In the realm of pop culture, eternalizing our legends is an ever-evolving challenge. In order to keep their mythology alive for younger generations, they need a reference point that makes them easily accessible. While there are countless ways in 2021 to access the music they leave behind, The Beatles: Get Back is a milestone that will guide future generations to experience their enduring appeal in true, fluid motion.
In terms of function, the film works in two distinct ways: primarily as a historical document of The Beatles at their ill-fated peak, and secondly, as the most epic hangout movie ever assembled. Though there is no real narrative, storylines begin to emerge while viewers sit for 7 hours and digest the full breadth of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Especially for viewers who come into the experience with a sense for who these people are and what their personalities are like, one can’t help but feel delighted by their silly antics and dry British humor.
Getting to spend such quality time with The Beatles and seeing their creative process unfold gives so much contextual depth to their chemistry as bandmates. Understanding the background helps us unspool the sordid mythology behind some of culture’s most burning questions about their seismic breakup—the “what really happened?”. We watch as their ideologies clash and create little skirmishes within the band, though when it’s time to unify, their sheer greatness always shines through.
Though life took them all in separate (sometimes tragic) directions, in the end, the four Beatles will forever be remembered by the one special thing that bound them all together: true friendship. Therein lies the unassailable charm of The Beatles: Get Back, it’s warmly reminiscent of the joy of spending time with good old friends. And while musical trends come and go, it’s the memories that stay with us the most; Peter Jackson’s latest work revitalizes that memory for generations to come.