Paul McCartney in Red Square (2003) (TV)

Director:

Mark Haefeli

Release Date:

18 September 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

For decades, The Beatles were banned from Russia. That was yesterday...

Plot:

As the rock musician performs in Russia, the story of the Beatles' revolutionary impact on the Soviet Union is told.

Plot Keywords:

Soviet Union History | Live Performance | Rock Band | Russian History | Rock Musician

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Paul McCartney	...	Band Members
Brian Ray	...	Band Member - Guitars / Vocals
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Frost	...	Himself
Seva Gakkel	...	Himself
Mikhail Gorbachev	...	Himself
Boris Grebenshchikov	...	Himself
Sergei Ivanov	...	Himself
Vladimir Kozloff	...	Himself
Andrey Makarevich	...	Himself (as Andrei Makarevich)
Heather Mills	...	Herself
Olga Pershina	...	Herself
Vladimir Putin	...	Himself
Sergei Roldugin	...	Himself
Timothy Ryback	...	Himself
Artemiy Troitskiy	...	Himself (as Artemy Troitsky)
Kolya Vasin	...	Himself
Sergei Volynets	...	Himself

Directed by
Mark Haefeli

Produced by
Delia Fine	....	executive producer
John Florescu	....	executive producer
Mark Haefeli	....	producer
Zoran Jevremov	....	producer
Andee Kuroda	....	screens producer
Robby Montgomery	....	coordinating producer
Emilio Nunez	....	producer

Cinematography by
Craig Braden

Film Editing by
Lance Cain
Zoran Jevremov

Makeup Department
Sondra Nottingham	....	makeup department head

Production Management
Andrey Deryabin	....	unit production manager
Dan Deutsch	....	unit production manager
Nerissa Marbury	....	production manager

Sound Department
Michael Brauer	....	sound mixer
Matt Foglia	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Roy Bennett	....	lighting designer
Dusty Cardaropoli	....	camera operator
Redo Jackson	....	camera operator
Jim Johnston	....	camera operator
Wally Lees	....	lighting director
Dane Mustola	....	camera operator
Mike Sienkiewicz	....	camera operator
Josh Worley	....	senior video controller

Editorial Department
Chloe Demrovsky	....	post-production assistant

Music Department
David Kahne	....	music producer

Other crew
Kevin Smith	....	technical director

Production Companies

• MPL Communications (co-production)
• A&E Network
• A&E Television Networks
• David Paradine Television
• Mark Haefeli Productions

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Red Square, Kitai-gorod, Tverskoy District, Moscow, Russia

Company:

MPL Communications

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Behind the Curtain: Memories from Red Square (2005) (V)

Good Mix of Music and Documentary

Paul McCartney in Red Square (2005)

*** (out of 4)

Part concert film, part documentary, this release covers Paul McCartney's shows in Russia during his 2003 tour, which was the first time he had ever played there. Through the documentary we learn about Russia's troubled past and how The Beatles and their music was banned from the country during the 1960s and if you were caught buying their stuff on the black market you could be arrested. Through interviews with the people we get to hear stories about what the group meant to them and the best parts of the film deal with them discussing how they thought it would be impossible to get to see them or any of their members live. I know many reviews have bashed this for not being a complete concert but there are plenty of those out there so the added story sets this apart from many other releases out there. I personally thought the story wasn't told all that well because it seems like the producers didn't want to get too political. Where the actually story starts to shine is when we hear stories from people who talk about what the music meant to them. What speaks even louder than their words is just seeing their reactions in the crowd during the concert footage. While we don't get a full concert there are still twenty songs played complete. The numbers include hits like Hey Jude, We Can Work It Out, Let It Be, I Saw Her Standing There, Can't Buy Me Love, Live and Let Live, Birthday, Maybe I'm Amazed and lesser known tracks like I've Just Seen a Face, Calice Skies and Two of Us. The concert is high on energy as McCartney is in a very good form with strong vocals and the band is great as usual. The highlight of the show has to be Back in the U.S.S.R. as the crowd certainly erupts.