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The Hours and Times More at IMDbPro »

9 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Thought-provoking meditation on the relationship between Lennon and Epstein, 15 July 2000

Author: Lisa2300 from USA

This movie explores the complex relationship between John Lennon and homosexual Beatles manager Brian Epstein. In April 1963, Lennon and Epstein took a trip to Barcelona together, and what may have happened there is the subject of this finely nuanced film. Epstein struggles with his desperate, hopeless love for Lennon, and the surly, sharp-witted and cruel Lennon is torn between needling him about it and relieving his suffering. Watching them spar in conversation is fascinating. Contrary to what it might sound like, the movie is not exploitative. Instead it is a meditation on the frequently tortured friendship between these two men. Very well done!

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
A modest masterpiece, 20 September 2009

Author: Ali_Catterall from London, England

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

So what really happened between John Lennon and Brian Epstein in Barcelona? One-man indie band, the Californian Christopher Münch, who wrote, filmed, directed and produced The Hours And The Times, isn't so much concerned about who-did-what-to-whom-with-what-and-when - or even if a 'when' happened at all. The producers take pains to preface their film with a large type caveat: "We make no representation that any such events as are depicted in the film ever occurred." In any case, aside from two fairly ambiguous scenes, one in which the pair self-consciously kiss in a bath, and another in which Epstein is shown waking up beside Lennon, they never do come together. Rather, Münch is more concerned with the universal, oscillating dynamic between any and all such master-and-servants; each role readily reversible, each party locked in a power struggle through which no one will emerge victor. 'Love', or something like it.

Often lumped in with the 'New Queer Cinema' (those movies dating from the early 1990s indie circuit dealing unapologetically, even aggressively, with transgressive sexuality), this 60 minute, no-budget, starkly monochromatic chamber piece shot in eight days, doesn't have all that much in common with the sub-genre; it's a true original, rightly revered since release. While it might be seen as a dress rehearsal for Ian Hart, who went on to reprise and expand his role as Lennon in Iain Softley's Backbeat (1994), the two films couldn't be more different; an edgy, claustrophobic, 'Norwegian Wood' to Backbeat's frenetic, gleaming 'Help'.

Perversely, this is one of the very best Beatles-related pictures ever made in which the 'Fabs' or their music never get a look in. "You're not allowed to think about them," reiterates Brian. Instead, here is Bach's 'Goldberg Variations', Catalan folk music, flamenco guitar, a wail of John's harmonica, and a healing burst of Little Richard. Two phone calls from the outside world, one from Epstein's mother Queenie, the other, a stilted chat with Cynthia underscoring John's mixed feelings for his wife, remind us of the lives they've temporarily misplaced.

The wistful horn from a Liverpool tug boat and an aerial view of the depressed Northern city opens the movie and sets the tone; from here, we're swiftly transported to an altogether more sumptuous Barcelona and the Avenida Palace hotel, where the Beatles once stayed in 1965. En route Brian (Angus) orders brandies, John, his beloved scotch and cokes (attention to detail is important to Münch), while flirting with air hostess Marianne (Pack). "She's just a bird, birds are harmless," John reassures a doubtful Epstein, flexing his new-found star appeal. "Otherwise we're liable to drive each other mad... left to our own devices." He'll continue to tease and harangue his apologetic would-be seducer throughout, exploring the boundaries of their friendship in a dialogue-driven film punctuated with reflective, if booming silences.

'Real life' rarely intrudes on their hotel room, or the few exterior locations the film employs, forcing the viewer directly into their predicament. "How can you relax when some bloke's about to ram his pecker up you?" leers Lennon, a raging bull to Epstein's picador. "I look into his eyes" replies Epstein evenly. "I find you an engaging and remarkable man, Brian," John stresses. "I've never met a man like you. But I don't want to have it off with you." "But you've never ruled it out," states Brian flatly, in a voice beaded with icicles, aching to be blowtorched off.

This is a fantastic script, a verbal chess match (or squash game, given Hart's typically combative delivery) driven by incredible - and incredibly nuanced performances. As Lennon, Hart is extraordinary: the spit of the man, in likeness, accent and essence (at least, his received persona) - a seething mass of insecurities, brittle bravado, boundless curiosity, wit and intelligence with, as Münch puts it, "a hunger for experience".

Angus is almost as good as his unhappy and pill-popping, yet calculating manager, occasionally employing self-pity as emotional blackmail - or seen venting his frustrations to a bellhop who he knows can't understand English. "The little beggar will love the bastard too," he frets of Julien. "Sometimes I hate John so much I want to die." And yet it's by no means a one-note performance. There's a quiet fierceness there too (befitting a man who once controlled the biggest group in the world), as in his vocal loathing of a gay, anti-Semite they encounter; Epstein was a victim of prejudice, twice-over.

Following his hastily aborted bathtub kiss, John takes his own anxieties out on visiting air hostess and proto-feminist Marianne, who gives as good as she receives, their encounter climaxing not in sex but a dance to Little Richard's 'I'm In Love Again'. It's one of the few carefree moments in a film filled with choppy undercurrents, sadness and longing. The other, infinitely more poignant moment, occurs at the end, as the pair sit on a park bench, making a pact that they will return to Barcelona in 10 years time. As John was to sing the following year, during a song augmented by flamenco flourishes, "You know, if you break my heart I'll go, but I'll be back again".

It would never happen: Epstein died in 1967 from a barbiturates overdose, just one month before male homosexuality was decriminalised. Lennon, we know about. In the promotion of this film, and generally, rather too much has been made of the pair's class differences, as if to emphasise their insurmountable 'love across the tracks'. In truth, Lennon, was raised middle-class (at least lower-middle-class), and enjoyed typically middle-class pursuits throughout his life, from art school to liberal politics, 'happenings', primal screaming and brown rice. When he sung 'Working Class Hero', he wasn't preening, but yearning.

As highlighted here, Brian Epstein, manager, friend, confidante, father-figure (and perhaps sometime-lover), had more in common with John Lennon than one would imagine; it's almost a shame they didn't get it on. After this, their lives would never be the same again.

6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Very Expecting for Beatle Fans., 29 August 2001
Author: Canyon_l from PA, United States

It's basically what you would expect from it. The director must have had kept John Lennon's thought on the matter of him and Brian having that vacation together. He said that, "It was NEVER consummated. But we did have a PRETTY INTENSE RELATIONSHIP." This was carried out through the whole film, even in the famous bathroom scene. Over all I enjoyed the film for the fact that it went along with the little bits of facts and never exaggerated them. This is close to the real thing of what might have happened those couple of days.

7 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
a rather interesting film, 18 March 2003
Author: saggingpantsmatt from san francisco califonia

The film really tackles a subject that not to many beatle fans think about.The relationship between john lennon and brian epstein.There is a little to much swearing from john,but overall it's not a bad movie.The movie is actually based on a trip that the two of them took in 1963.

4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Subtle, thoughtful... interesting, 23 November 2001

Author: Kellychan

I back-ordered this movie because of the clearance price, not entirely sure if I was going to like it or not. The first time I saw the movie, I thought, "What the heck...?"

I watched it again, using earphones, and I was fascinated how subtle the emotions are suggested. The character development is very realistic (thankfully it wasn't all sappy and sweet). The ending was suitable--it ended where there was nothing else to say, and their relationship becomes more in itself.

Unfortunately, Ian Hart didn't do John Lennon a lot of justice... Hart's portrayal was too emotionless, when I always had the impression that Lennon actually knew WHEN to emote in conversation. David Angus is perfect in his role as Brian Epstein.

I recommend this to any Beatle fan who want something different.

3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
bach lennon and epstein, 28 August 2002

Author: annick.dries-2 from belgium

I saw this one in 1994 and I was under the impression. Contrary to one of the other comments, I found Ian Hart's impersonation of Lennon strong: witty, hurting and sensitive at times. The interaction between Epstein and Lennon in a strange pre-Beatlemania atmosphere was fascinating: BEA-aircompany, Lennon going to watch some Gaudis in Barcelona (did he really know Gaudi at that time ?), Lennon picking up a girl (stewardess on the flight). It seems far from the peace loving prophet a few years later. And still, I think, much closer to the "real" John Lennon. The beautiful Bach-score (Goldberg variations by Glenn Gould) offers an impressing undertone to this portrait, which looks like a forebode of the dramatic short lives of both protagonists.

Great Movie!, 5 November 2006

Author: FrizzKWest from Mars

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This movie is great! Great great great.(I think someone already said this) The small details show the Munch really knew what he was talking about. Not a good movie for someone who likes things to happen very quickly. Most of it is just talking. I know I sound repetitive, but this is just great! The ending is very abrupt, but it fits. Everything that happens just happens, without warning. The beginning is abrupt (with a fog-horn), and the scenes end with fade-ins of white. (apperently, to create the feeling of remembering something). Apparently, my comment still does not have enough lines, but I can't really say much else about this movie except, if you are a Beatles fan, see this movie!

1 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Unnecessary., 11 December 2004
Author: aint_been_to_no_music_school from USA

You ever wondered what happened between Brian Epstein and John Lennon in Barcelona, Spain just before the Beatles made it big? Me neither.

I found this movie completely unnecessary and, if anything, it tarnishes John Lennon's name. I don't think either Brian Epstein or John Lennon were portrayed accurately, as well. Not that the filmmakers didn't try to portray them accurately, tried a little too hard in fact. This is just a case of a movie going where it really didn't need to go.

I would definitely not recommend this movie to anyone, especially Beatles fans. I don't think any real Beatles fan will appreciate this movie and the way that it portray John Lennon.

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