John and Yoko: A Love Story (1985) (TV)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Sandor Stern

Writers:

Edward Hume (story)
Sandor Stern (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 December 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music | Romance

Plot:

Details the lives of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, from before their first meeting to their rise to stardom. |

Plot Keywords:

John Lennon | Miscarriage | Government Surveillance | Musician | Affair

Cast

Mark McGann	...	John Lennon
Kim Miyori	...	Yoko Ono
Kenneth Price	...	Paul McCartney
Peter Capaldi	...	George Harrison
Phillip Walsh	...	Ringo Starr
Richard Morant	...	Brian Epstein
Rachel Laurence	...	Cynthia Lennon
Joe Randall Cutler	...	Julian Age 5
Samuel Wetmore	...	Julian, Age 11
Paul Lockwood	...	Julian, Age 15
Catherine Wrigley	...	Kyoko, Age 5
Larissa Anastacio	...	Kyoko Age 8
Vincent Marzello	...	Tony Cox
David Baxt	...	Elliot Mintz
John Sinclair	...	George Martin

Runtime:

180 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Carson Productions

Trivia:

The docudrama was produced with a great deal of cooperation from Yoko Ono and the Lennon estate.

Goofs:

Factual errors: A scene of the "Let It Be" sessions shows John and Yoko waltzing to the unfinished track, while Paul and George argue over the last two notes of George's solo, leading to George's walking out of the studio. Waltzes are in 3:4 time; "Let It Be" is in 4:4, and the couple in real life danced to "I Me Mine" (written in 3:4). Paul and George's "last two notes" argument was over a break in "I've Got A Feeling", on another day.

Movie Connections:

References "The Brady Bunch" (1969)

Just a love story.

This tele-film is visually and, to a lesser degree, audibly charming in favour of suspending one's disbelief that we are actually a fly-on-the-wall witnessing John Lennon and Yoko Ono from their initial beginning together to their final and tragic end. The period covered, therefore, is from 1966 to 1980. The Beatles' score and solo work are used to help convey the story mirroring the feelings felt at the time even though chronologically it can be inaccurate at times. But no matter, as I said above, it adds to the study of emotion that this film is all about: A Love Story.

Now this is where it falls apart for me. The film becomes a rather syrupy soap opera and is too light weight. The film uses the interesting lives of two famous people in order to relate a love story, but this is strictly my own disappointment for something more. Objectively the film delivers what the title promises but do not expect a Beatles Anthology-type retrospective. The viewpoint is very one sided but this, too, is in keeping with the filmmaker's concept.

I mentioned earlier the film was too light weight. As a tele-film this is usually the case but I don't see it as an excuse for average production values. Technically, the film is rather amateurish. Standard camera work, poor lighting and poor film quality, but this may be due to funds. Also, the story hops along rather abruptly leaving the impression the film is more a story based on pages of a photo album with little cohesion to the lives of two people. But, to be fair, it may be asking too much to make the story segue successfully as film length is an important consideration.

In conclusion, despite my criticism, the film is enjoyable in a casual way and not a complete waste of time to view providing one does not enter into it too seriously.