The Beatles - Let It Be revisited by...Peter Jackson

[clive gash]

www.thebeatles.com/news/new-film-project-announcing-exciting-new-collaboration-between-beatles-and-acclaimed-academy



London – January 30, 2019 - Apple Corps Ltd. and WingNut Films Ltd. are proud to announce an exciting new collaboration between The Beatles and the acclaimed Academy Award winning director Sir Peter Jackson. The new film will be based around 55 hours of never-released footage of The Beatles in the studio, shot between January 2nd and January 31st, 1969. These studio sessions produced The Beatles’ Grammy Award winning album Let It Be, with its Academy Award winning title song. The album was eventually released 18 months later in May 1970, several months after the band had broken up.
The filming was originally intended for a planned TV special, but organically turned into something completely different, climaxing with The Beatles’ legendary performance on the roof of Apple's Savile Row London office — which took place exactly 50 years ago today.
Peter Jackson said, "The 55 hours of never-before-seen footage and 140 hours of audio made available to us, ensures this movie will be the ultimate ‘fly on the wall’ experience that Beatles fans have long dreamt about - it’s like a time machine transports us back to 1969, and we get to sit in the studio watching these four friends make great music together.”
Although The Beatles were filmed extensively during the 1960s - in concerts, interviews and movies - this is the only footage of any note that documents them at work in the studio.
The Let It Be album and movie, having been released in the months following The Beatles’ breakup, have often been viewed in the context of the struggle the band was going through at that time.
“I was relieved to discover the reality is very different to the myth,” continues Jackson, “After reviewing all the footage and audio that Michael Lindsay-Hogg shot 18 months before they broke up, it’s simply an amazing historical treasure-trove. Sure, there’s moments of drama - but none of the discord this project has long been associated with. Watching John, Paul, George, and Ringo work together, creating now-classic songs from scratch, is not only fascinating - it’s funny, uplifting and surprisingly intimate”.
"I’m thrilled and honoured to have been entrusted with this remarkable footage - making the movie will be a sheer joy.”
Jackson will be working with his They Shall Not Grow Old partners, Producer Clare Olssen and Editor Jabez Olssen. The footage will be restored by Park Road Post of Wellington, New Zealand, to a pristine standard, using techniques developed for the WW1 documentary film which has been nominated for a BAFTA for best documentary.
The untitled film is currently in production and the release date will be announced in due course. This film is being made with the full co-operation of Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, and Olivia Harrison.
The Executive Producers are Ken Kamins for WingNut Films and Jeff Jones and Jonathan Clyde for Apple Corps.
Following the release of this new film, a restored version of the original Let It Be movie directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg will also be made available

[loveless]

I was wondering how this would go down.

I can't really blame them for using "55 hours of never-before-seen footage and 140 hours of audio" to paint a happier picture of a fairly grim moment in their history. I know they've had the restored original film ready to go for ages, but couldn't imagine them just sort of shoving it out there without SOME effort to tart the whole thing up a bit (I'm hoping they'll reissue the original UK LP box set "while they're down there").


THIS

The Let It Be album and movie, having been released in the months following The Beatles’ breakup, have often been viewed in the context of the struggle the band was going through at that time.
“I was relieved to discover the reality is very different to the myth,” continues Jackson, “After reviewing all the footage and audio that Michael Lindsay-Hogg shot 18 months before they broke up, it’s simply an amazing historical treasure-trove. Sure, there’s moments of drama - but none of the discord this project has long been associated with. Watching John, Paul, George, and Ringo work together, creating now-classic songs from scratch, is not only fascinating - it’s funny, uplifting and surprisingly intimate”.

is virtually identical to the oft-repeated party line during the recent "White Album charm offensive" (which, to be fair, DOES show a group at a certain [heretofore under-narrated] peak of collaborative performance and creativity). I'm quite happy to see and hear whatever they come up with here (they did periodically catch fire during that month), but...there's definitely something chintzy seeming about that particular "hook" being used on two consecutive projects.

[guye]

Yeah, I suspect that The Beatles bitched at each other a lot less than most bands. It made for a good story after their break up, but I'm sure they had a lot of fun together even if Paul could be a PITA task-master on occasion.

[Deleted]

You can imagine the excitement this caused in Raygeville.

[Reactionary Rage]

The “most miserable sessions on earth” according to Lennon, no?

I dunno, it smells a bit like Macca influenced spin to me.

[rayge]

Why don't they just put the whole 55 hours on permanent rotation on one of those obscure channels that nobody watches?

[Reactionary Rage]

oooo, sync watch?!!!!

[DarknessFish]

Be still my beating heart.

[clive gash]

Fingers crossed.

[Deleted]

I have a question. 

I'm looking forward to this, but then why did they paint such a dour version of the group recording the album in the first place?

Surely, they'd want to send them off on a higher note than the original.

[toomanyhatz]

By the time it came out they were in the midst of breaking up.

I think at the time they all thought "put it out warts and all! It'll show what I had to deal with!"

I DO think George actually did get a raw deal - while the dysfunctional LenMac team tries to straighten each other out, George, at his absolute peak, gives them great song after great song and they go for the freaking blues jam. No wonder ATMP was so good.

[phenomenalcat]

Jan 30, 2019 16:58:40 GMT sloopjohnc said:

I have a question. 

I'm looking forward to this, but then why did they paint such a dour version of the group recording the album in the first place?

I wanna know why such a dour version of this group recorded this album in the first place.  They should have lightened up.

[Deleted]

Jan 30, 2019 19:55:47 GMT phenomenalcat said:

Jan 30, 2019 16:58:40 GMT sloopjohnc said:

I have a question. 

I'm looking forward to this, but then why did they paint such a dour version of the group recording the album in the first place?

I wanna know why such a dour version of this group recorded this album in the first place.  They should have lightened up.

[Deleted]

Jan 30, 2019 18:50:33 GMT toomanyhatz said:

By the time it came out they were in the midst of breaking up.

I think at the time they all thought "put it out warts and all! It'll show what I had to deal with!"

I DO think George actually did get a raw deal - while the dysfunctional LenMac team tries to straighten each other out, George, at his absolute peak, gives them great song after great song and they go for the freaking blues jam. No wonder ATMP was so good.

Lennon in particular was treating George's songs with something close to contempt, but at that point Harrison was writing better songs than Lennon.

[Sneelock]

it's time for Happy Beatles! I noticed this with Junior Martin and his "White Album" yaks. they didn't really hate each others guts. objects in the rearview mirror are less miserable than they appear!

I guess it's probably true that both those projects have long had the emphasis on how poorly things were going with the unit. I'm curious if only because "let it be" has gone through so many iterations at this point. it was "back to basics" and then heavenly choirs of angels. then it back to basics again. now it's one big happy Beatles Family!! what's next? Helter Skelter 2!!