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:
Fred Astaire	...	Himself (archive footage)
The Beatles	...	Themselves (archive footage)
Dick Cavett	...	Himself

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:

man wears eyeglasses | reference to pubic hair | song | scandal | 1980s | 

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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

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,412,213, 10 October 1988

Gross USA:

$3,753,977

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,754,273

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 first cut of this movie ran 24 hours long.

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Quotes

John Lennon: I always was a rebel... but on the other hand, I wanted to be loved and accepted by all facets of society and not be this loud-mouthed lunatic, poet, musician. But I cannot be what I'm not.

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Connections

Features The Mike Douglas Show (1961)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

the best portrait of Lennon and The Beatles on film

It revolves around the recording of song "Imagine" as well as the album of the same name in 1971. It is narrated by Lennon from tons of interviews he gave. After the scene is set, it goes back to the beginning of The Beatles and and see many familiar clips of performances of "Twist And Shout", "From Me To You" and "Help".

The most fascinating part of this documentary are rare home movies of John at home and of some news segments probably not seen since they were aired. A striking scene shows where an obsessed fan found his way to John's England estate. The young man is confused and may be on drugs but believes John's songs are speaking directly to him, asking him the meaning behind his "I Dig A Pony" song, John tells him it was just playing around with words, literally a nonsense song. John gently tells him the songs should not be mixed up with his own life and offers the guy something to eat.

John is gentle when dealing with his fans, but he can have a temper when dealing with technicians in a recording session, or reporters who say they miss "the old Beatles". It sure is intriguing stuff for any Beatles fan and definitely worth your time.