The U.S. vs. John Lennon
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Movie Reviews of The U.S. vs. John Lennon
Movie Review: Behaving Like a Child....of the Blitz
Summary: 4 Stars
Writers/directors David Leaf and John Scheinfeld present us with an engaging documentary about the Nixon Administration's attempt to deport actor/singer John Lennon in the wake of the former Beatle's anti- war protest.
The personal stake I would have on this issue is that my Dad was on the first of two voluntary Air Force tours of duty with the Disaster Preparadeness Unit (the military's answer to the Red Cross) in Vietnam around the time John Lennon and Yoko Ono stepped up public denunciations of the war. Dad hasn't objected to Lennon's stance in retrospect because the 1964 deathbed plea of General Douglas MacArthur (a personal hero of his, and more interestingly since the early '90s, a native of former President Clinton's home state, which has a strong military tradition), made after a lifetime of observations and direct involvement in Asian affairs, was that America stay out of the conflict in Vietnam because Westerners should not fight land wars in Asia, nor should they fight in the jungle, nor should one country fight in another's civil war. All three strategies have proven to be historically disastrous.
I feel, however that Leaf and Scheinfeld could have taken this documentary in a different direction, however, placing a bit more emphasis on the early-life issues that were the most likely influence on his later behavior.
Americans could give more thought to the fact that 9 times out of 10, when the British in general advise us that certain military strategies are a mistake, chances are it's because they made those mistakes first. They once had history's mightiest Empire because they fought with everyone with whom there could possible be to fight on this planet during the whole millenium of their existance, and consequently should know bad military strategy when they see it, and if America's "mother country" was speaking to us, clearly, "Mother" was trying to warn us that we were making a mistake.
It's no coincidence that Lennon and many other British Invaders took a strong anti-war stance during the time of U.S troop involvment in Vietnam; the vast majority of them could have been killed in World War II as children and could probably empathize better with the plight of Vietnamese civilians.
Lennon was born during the air raid over Liverpool(Read:Industrial town+ Seaport = Inevitable prime target for the Luftwaffe) on October 9, 1940, and like all newborns in hospitals of that area, was whisked to the hospital nursery upon delivery and placed in a basket beneath his bassinet to protect him from potential injury in case the hospital was bombed and the ceiling caved in, and spent the first 4 1/2 years of his life dodging Luftwaffe bombs. While many of us are old enough to remember the last day of his life, if we consider the events of the first day of his life, it should explain enough about the anti-war protest he made somewhere in between.
Other reviewers mention Lennon's abandonment of his first wife and son, Julian--a detail excluded from this film. But Lennon, too experienced abandonment by his parents in his early life, and his family's dysfunction may have been another symptom of the war.
I couldn't say I agreed 100% with his support of John Sinclair, who was convicted of possession of marijuana in 1969. But the Nixon Administration's ultimately futile attempt to deport Lennon was more out of pettiness than a justifyable attempt to dissuade someone who supported a law-breaker.
Yoko Ono, who herself survived air raids over Tokyo as a child, Tariq Ali, Ron Kovacs, Carl Bernstein, Dick Cavett, Angela Davis, Chris Charlesworth, George McGovern, Gore Vidal Noam Chomsky, and Geraldo Rivera are among the luminaries of the period, interviewed in counterpoint to the archival footage.
Viewers are presented with familar footage of the Lennons--their "bed in" for peace, John's performance of "Imagine", Lennon with son, Sean who turned one the day his father was vindicated in court, and ultimately, we relive those sad days of December, 1980.
As I conclude my homage to the World's Most Famous Battle of Britain Baby in time for what would have been his 67th birthday, I feel sufficiently appreciative of the empathy most reviewers on this site have shown for a man whose life of rebelliousness may have been one long attempt to overcome post traumatic stress disorder, but whose example as a peace activist shook many out of complacency along the way.
Movie Review: make love not war
Summary: 5 Stars
this video is awesome. if only they would show this on regular TV for the masses. we need a john lennon and yoko ono bed in now. i appreciate the message in this DVD documentary, it is timeless. i have introduced the young people in my life to it's message, it gives us hope. Movie Review: They're gonna crucify me
Summary: 3 Stars
Back in 1972, the U.S. government handed a certain British ?migr? a rather abrupt eviction notice, informing him and the missus that they had 60 days to get out of the country or face deportation proceedings.
This event would likely have not caused much of a ripple in anyone else's life, had the folks in question not been a married couple known to millions simply as "John & Yoko". And so began a highly politicized, four-year legal battle for citizenship, chronicled in the documentary "The US vs. John Lennon".
You know the back story: After a very public and controversial courtship, John Lennon and Yoko Ono marry in 1969, the Beatles break up, and the couple begin making their own headlines with a series of mildly political "performance art" media stunts (starting with the relatively benign "Bed-In For Peace") and then move to NYC in the early 70's, where they begin to openly sympathize with the "radical" American political groups of the time, much to the chagrin of the Nixon administration. The apparent last straw for Tricky D.& Co. was John and Yoko's 1972 appearance at a charity concert to help cover legal fees for White Panther Party founder John Sinclair, who had been jailed ostensibly on drug charges, but was considered by many at the time to be a political prisoner.
Declassified documents now prove that, from day one,there was direct inter-agency manipulation of John and Yoko's deportation proceedings, from the FBI all the way up to the Oval Office, resulting in a nearly four-year long persecution that was probably best described by Lennon himself, who referred to the machinations as "Kafkaesque".
The film features great archival footage, with recollections from the likes of Bobby Seale, John Sinclair, Geraldo Rivera, Noam Chomsky, Ron Kovic, Paul Krassner, George McGovern, and, er, G. Gordon Liddy (guess whose side he's on). The most insightful comment comes from the ever-glib Gore Vidal, who, when asked what it was about Lennon that made him such a threat to the Nixon cabal, says: "He (Lennon) represented Life, and was admirable. Mr. Nixon, and (for that matter) Mr. Bush, represent Death, and that's bad." (Perhaps that is a bit of an over-simplification, but so true.)
The film is a tad dry in its execution (it was produced by VH-1, which likely accounts for the rote "Behind the Music" approach) but it's still a compelling tale, and an important one.
Movie Review: Great Movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is such an excellent movie and it was in perfect condition! I'm glad that I could find this movie for such a low price, because I'm a poor college student.Movie Review: not what i expected but good.
Summary: 4 Stars
I thought this movie took a while to get into what actions the government took against Lennon. The title implies that it's a documentary about an actual court case, which it did talk about. However, half of the movie was about Lennon's activities prior to any court case. Which, if I would've expected it, would have been fine. I was more interested in what actions were taken against him that were questionably ethical. This was still a good documentary and I recommend it.