Imagine: John Lennon (1988)

A biography of the rock music star.

Director:

Andrew Solt

Writers:

Sam Egan, Andrew Solt

Stars:

John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney

Cast

Credited cast:
John Lennon	...	Himself / Narration (archive footage)
Yoko Ono	...	Herself
Paul McCartney	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Harrison	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ringo Starr	...	Himself (archive footage)
David Bowie	...	Himself
Phil Spector	...	Himself (archive footage)
Cynthia Lennon	...	Herself - John Lennon's first wife
Julian Lennon	...	Himself
Sean Lennon	...	Himself
Al Capp	...	Himself (archive footage)
May Pang	...	Herself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
The Beatles	...	Themselves (archive footage)
Dick Cavett	...	Himself
Eric Clapton	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

This "biography" evolves around the nearly 240 hours of film and videotape fortuitously taken by Lennon of his life. The archive footage is transformed into a fascinating life story of one of the most complex and fascinating men of the modern music era. This effort includes a 36 song soundtrack. Includes some very personal and insightful footage, never before made available to the public.

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Plot Keywords:

song | scandal | 1980s | 1970s | 1960s | 

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Taglines:

Discover John...the angry youth, the musician, the radical, the husband, the father, the lover, the idealist...through his own words and personal collection of film and music.

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Music

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Imagine

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,753,977

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The producers transferred all available footage and recordings to laser discs, logged each one into a database and used a computer to access cuts and assemble the edit. This was an early version of non-linear editing.

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Quotes

[the Beatles' press conference at Kennedy Airport]
Reporter: What do you think of the comment that you're nothing but a bunch of British Elvis Presleys?
Ringo Starr: [shaking like Elvis] It's not true! It's not true!

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Connections

Referenced in Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)

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Soundtracks

Strawberry Fields Forever
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Published by SBK Blackwood Music Inc.
under license from ATV Music (Maclen)

User Reviews

Sadly Overlooked

This was my bad, I mistook this as a Yoko exploitation vehicle when it was released and really deprived myself of an excellent biography. John Lennon, The Beatles still loom very large in pop culture and may for quite some time. But as a fan, I find most film documentaries generally are either too lengthy and even preachy or too segmented and incomplete; with nothing really doing the trick. So much so, that I think their music or silly Hollywood movies are still the best and most candid contact we have available. Having said that, by concentrating on John Lennon only, I think this film is able to rise above the rest of whats out there. It cleverly makes use of interviews and sound bytes by John so that he's almost narrating the entire film. It does not dwell too much on his time after the Beatles and with Yoko. Instead its a pleasant balance on all phases of his most fascinating life. There's a ton of stuff I had never seen before and even better, some complete takes of the familiar stuff we know too well. For instance, there is a comprehensive bit involving John and Yoko's bed in for peace that includes a nasty exchange with a pompous cartoonist. Also a terrific scene in a recording studio. The real stuff baby. I think its interesting that as time has passed, John's ideas just don't sound so ridiculous and drug induced as they once did. He instead really comes across as a visionary trying to make dullards and dimwits understand what are now extremely sane concepts. Very odd I must say.