A Hard Day's Night
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Movie Reviews of A Hard Day's Night
Movie Review: All in a day's Work
Summary: 5 Stars
Two words best describe The Beatles' first film A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, funny and quirky. Director Richard Lester shows the mayhem of 1964 that was Beatlemania - adolescent teens screaming at the top of their lungs for the four Liverpudlians, who in turn, are running for cover. The film is a quick jaunt through the day in a life of the British rock band's daily schedule, which involved a set of rehearsals for a television variety show, somewhat annoying press interviews, but a stunning finale filled with "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."
But the boys go on brief excursions of their own in between takes to break the monotony. From singing "I Should Have known Better" in the train's storage coach, a little dancing at the hotel casino to several Beatle tunes, "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Don't Bother Me," and "All My Loving," romping around in an open field to the tune of "Can't Buy Me Love," to Ringo venturing out on his own with "Ringo's Theme" ("This Boy" instrumental) playing in the background, the film is filled with madcap humor reminiscent of the Marx Brothers but with a tinge of British comedy; one of the highlights of the film besides the music is the highly humorous screenplay by Allun Owen that the lads and the supporting cast, Paul's Grandfather played by Wilfred Brambell, the television director (Victor Spinetti), Norm, the manager (Norman Rossington), Shake, the assistant (John Junkin II), bring to life.
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT remains to be a timeless classic. The film was innovative during the time it was made and still influences those who watch it over and over again. But most of all it captures the innocence of that period. Indeed, it is a film that many Beatles fan cannot help to watch more than once because of its of top notch production and performances by one of the greatest bands in rock and roll history.
Movie Review: Must See For Anyone-Fan or Not
Summary: 5 Stars
I had the definite fortune of seeing this film for the first time as a midnight show in an actual theater many years ago. I'd been a Beatlemaniac for several years, and it is hard to describe the feeling of actually seeing and hearing live, moving Beatles after seeing b&w stills of the movie for years in magazines, etc.This film remains staunchly in my top 10 movies of all time, bar none. Whether a Beatle fan or not,the undeniably-infectious fun of the movie, coupled with the unbelievably charismatic Beatles themselves, make this film a rare example of a truly upbeat "feel good" film.
I won't comment much on the DVD package itself as I've only actually watched the film at this early point. I'm not a psycho DVD-phile, I won't gank about the screen ratios or whatever, the sound seemed merely adequate considering the capabilites of previous DVD's I own, and actually seemed to turn hollow and echo-ey toward the end, and I'm not sure if it was an attempt to make the film sound 'Live' at that point or what.
What is important to remember however is what a great film this is from every standard of measure, giving one an all-too-brief glimpse as to why the world initially went bonkers over these cheeky jokers. Although a work of fiction, Alun Owen has done a fantastic job of delineanating the fabs different personalities in such a way that allows the viewer an abbreviated glimpse into a highly sanitized version of who/what the lads were at this period in their history.
A Hard Day's Night is a masterpiece pure and simple, and should serve as a milestone for all future generations. These guys were all that AND a bag of chips. If I've seen the film once I've seen it a dozen times, and I never get tired of a single frame.
So stop reading the Queen (that's an in-joke) and get your copy now!
Movie Review: Pure nostalgic joy and dreamlike pleasure
Summary: 5 Stars
When you are dealing with a myth you have to look for what was new at the time when that myth appeared. And the Beatles are such a myth. This film reveals the fabric the myth is made of. Pure cinematographic and even photographic silk. The four boys have to be running because at the time everything young and new was on the run since it was chased by the establishment in order to be pilloried and exposed. But it also had to show how these four young men had to be able to capture the attention of other people and bring them into the running, first of all young people, particularly girls, and second the best representatives of the establishment, coppers. The film also had to be in black and white to be out of time, eternal because looking old, even odd or oddly even. Then and but their music did not have to convince their audience. It was new, fresh, lively, light, slightly rocky and rather smoothly rolly, with some drums but not too much, and a lot of harmony and melody, but the main attraction was the use of simple catch phrases to express love, freedom, desire, alienation and yet liberation in a mellow and sweet wrapping, like the cute title of the film taken from one of the songs. Finally the film had to satisfy the audience on the lifestyle of the Beatles and on their surrealistic reality. That is done with a plot based on their real life as musicians, etc, and at the same time with constant reference to impossible, at times absurd, breaches in this realism into some impossible meaningless or humoristic pranks. In one word the film is so real that it reaches beyond reality and even the virtuality of a life imagined as being out of logic.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Movie Review: Mr.Cranky? but seriously...
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't know if Mr. Cranky is for real of if this is supposed to be humor. If it's humor, it's about as stale as the line that some people cling on to: "did you know that Paul McCartney was in a different band before Wings?"
I don't have anything to compare other than my VHS copies (1988 and 1998 versions, I think). What I'm going by is the film itself, which I saw for the first time when I was 11. It came on TV, and it was the first time I remember being glued to the set and cursing the commercials to be over and the program to resume. I am also going by my feeling that there is no rock and roll movie better than this. The Kids Are Alright is a great film as well, but that's more of a documentary.
A Hard Day's Night captures John, Paul, George, and Ringo at the point in their career as Beatles when they were so busy and frantic that they didn't have time to pose or fake anything. What you see is natural charm, and a magic of film making. And this is the amazing thing, because it was directed by Dick Lester, the same director of Cuba, one of the worst films I have ever seen - it ranks right in there with the flat acting in The Flamingo kid.
A Hard Day's Night is the reason why all the films about the Beatles fail. It is absurd to try and recreate any performance scene, because the Beatles were an aberration. The excitement was real, the talent was difficult to match, their humor was fairly natural, and their charm went hand in hand with an excellent script.
If you're serious about music, and you have an understanding that rock and roll is about angst, energy, rebellion, and fun as well, then you'll appreciate this film as the classic that it is. If not, then maybe West Side Story is more your speed.
Movie Review: Surprisingly good
Summary: 5 Stars
I had always disdained the "early Beatles;" "my" Beatles started with Rubber Soul. The period leading up to that was, in my teenage mind, a necessary evil - the screaming teeny-boppers, the "conventional" songs all on the same subject - this was only so they could gain sufficient popularity and respect in order to record the "real" Beatles oeuvre. It was as if they had sold out at the start of their career instead of the end.
I recently read a review of some new film covering the Beatles' adventures at the start of their careers. I can't recall the name and I doubt if anyone else will in six months. What I do remember is the reviewer saying that we didn't need a recreation of the Beatles in their youth, since we have such an excellent record of the real thing in "A Hard Day's Night." All the elements are there: the wackiness, the gentle disrespect of convention, and the desire to escape their fans that drove them into the studio shortly after this film came out. But the line dividing early and late Beatles is sharp and distinct. Surely Lennon's involvement with Yoko Ono, and the resulting exposure to the music and ideas of Stockhausen, Cage, Ligeti, and the rest of the classical avante-garde, clearly influenced the direction they took in subsequent albums.
With the benefit of hindsight, it's hard not to see them in this film as what they became later, as in retrospect we see an adult as the inevitable outgrowth of the child they were. The darker aspects are there as well - I could not help but think that Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Squeaky Fromme could have been among the screaming teenage girls at the end of the movie.