Beatles ’64 arrives at a time where documentaries about the legendary Fab Four from Liverpool are becoming commonplace, especially on Disney+, where this latest one can also be found. Following the success of Peter Jackson’s masterfully comprehensive fly-on-the-wall Get Back and the recent restoration of the contentious and controversial Let It Be, Beatles ’64 doesn’t reach the same heights, but provides an enjoyable, nostalgic, and thoughtful look at the first time the band experienced the enormity of their success during a trip to the United States to perform on the Ed Sullivan Show, play their first shows on American soil, and do various rounds of press appearances. As a look inside the band, Beatles ’64 doesn’t tell the viewer – especially Beatles fans – anything they probably don’t already know, but as an examination of the band’s global impact, this is as important a time capsule as any.
On February 4, 1964, The Beatles – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr – touched down in the U.S. for the first time, and to say that the response was thunderous would be an understatement. The airport upon arrival was a mob scene, matched only by days on end where the band would hunker down in their New York City hotel room while thousands of adoring fans lined the blocks outside, and many attempted to gain access to the building, only to be brusquely turned away by clearly miffed police and hotel staff. Beatles ’64 combines archival footage from their first American visit with sit down interviews conducted among people who were either there for one of the band’s stops or were caught up in the throes of Beatlemania.
Produced in part by Martin Scorsese, who pops up in the film during a present day chat with Starr about his fashion choices over the years, Beatles ’64 is directed by David Tedeschi. Their collaboration is noteworthy here based on their previous works on music documentaries where Scorsese was the director, but Tedeschi was an editor (Shine a Light, Rolling Thunder Revue, George Harrison: Living in the Material World). The flow of Beatles ’64 is scattered out of the gate, nicely encapsulating what it’s like to be caught up in a whirlwind of celebrity, but sometimes coming across like a movie trying to capture single thread to latch onto.
Tedeschi comes up with two tracks of narrative worth considering in Beatles ’64, one that’s a lot more confident than the other. Beatles ’64 functions best as a granular, evidence based, and observational deep dive into the connection between a band and their fans. The archival footage speaks for itself, as young men and women gush lovingly about their adoration for the band, while a lot of the older crowd either don’t understand the hype or just outright hate The Beatles for no great reason.
For their part, The Beatles at this point in their careers, at least, seem constantly amused by all the attention, and while it goes to their heads a bit, they clearly don’t take their success for granted. In the modern interviews, which include chats with McCartney, Starr, various writers and musical contemporaries, and even director David Lynch (who was at one of their concerts during this tour), it becomes clear that the band was unlike anything to hit America previously, even Elvis Presley. This comes through brightly when the interviews are paired with rare and never before seen concert footage that goes beyond simple reaction shots of people losing their minds while watching their favourite bands, and instead lingers on the people on stage reacting to what they are watching unfold before them.
Another major reason why this look back at the band’s impact on people’s lives comes in the form of outstanding archival footage that was shot by legendary documentarians Albert and David Maysles (Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter, Salesman), who were on hand for the media circus. Tedeschi lovingly recreates a flow akin to what The Maysles would’ve crafted had this footage ever been purposed into a feature length documentary of its own. Not only does Beatles ’64 work as a reminder of a time and place in American and musical history, but also as a stellar work of film preservation that pays loving homage to two of the greatest nonfiction filmmakers to ever live.
But there is a less intriguing and more aggrandizing note that Tedeschi (and even to some extent McCartney in his interview segments) keeps hammering on to little success. Beatles ’64 sometimes goes out of its way to note how the band’s appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show – which garnered a record audience that’s almost unequalled today in terms of scope – happened months after the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy. Tedeschi tries to frame the Beatles’ appearances as a healing moment for the nation, and one that required a lot of empathy from the band. While it might’ve been healing for some, Beatles ’64 takes that level of self-mythologizing and importance to an uncomfortable level. It’s a statement that could be true for some people who found solace in the band’s music turning a hard time for the nation at large, but this also inflates things to a point where it feels distastefully like putting words in peoples mouths.
While the world doesn’t need another documentary about John, Paul, George, and Ringo, Beatles ’64 sets itself apart by focusing on relationships they formed outside the band, often with people they would never get a chance to meet, and couldn’t even if they wanted to sit down with every fan who wanted a moment of their time. The enormity and responsibility The Beatles had to those people on the streets of New York and surrounding a repurposed boxing ring in a Washington D.C. auditorium is palpable throughout, and while the band’s dynamic would change mightily over time, for these few moments they were on top of the world and seeing things from a perspective few are ever afforded. Beatles ’64 captures that feeling quite nicely, by making the band’s enjoyable, but fictional lark A Hard Day’s Night seem like it had a lot of truth to it.
Beatles ’64 streams on Disney+ starting Friday, November 29, 2024.
