Imagine: John Lennon (Deluxe Edition)
Like most geniuses, John Lennon was a man of many contradictions.
Artist and activist, theologian and troublemaker, there's a reason he
was considered "the smart one" of The Beatles, but managed to do a whole
lot of dumb things. Thankfully, the late musician provides his own most
fitting eulogy with Imagine, a 1988 documentary-cum-biography that explores his life and career, which now finds new life in a Deluxe Edition DVD.
The film literally follows Lennon from his first days to his last, featuring interviews with his schoolteachers, bandmates, friends and family, offering a precursor to the autobiographical narrative since told in films like Tupac: Resurrection and other biopics. Much of the film footage is culled from live performances, recording sessions, and home movies, although there are more than a handful of sequences shot especially for the film (advertising the egregiously bad form of late '80s fashion). Cheeky and intimate, Imagine offers a virtually unprecedented glimpse of a man who embraced the unique and sometimes painful twists and turns in his life, one of which ultimately heralded his untimely demise.
There are some really interesting revelations to be found among the sometimes wanderlust narrative, including the pointed and hurtful references Lennon made to his former bandmates (particularly the "cute one") in some of his early solo music, and several scenes which acknowledge his shortcomings as a father and husband. But these are all included in the service of painting a full picture of Lennon, who in hindsight was certainly a musical genius, but also mercurial in his execution of that talent as he was in most things, and sometimes hypocritical.
Lennon, after all, famously (if not inaccurately) claimed that the Beatles were "bigger than Jesus," responded to criticism of his disparaging remarks about Paul as veiled references to himself (a political answer if ever there were one), and welcomed vagrants - at the cost of a lecture - into the gardens of his palatial estate. But the combination of these elements only adds to his mystique - again, as it does to all great artists of any medium - as it suggests those juxtapositions and disparities are what made him such an historic figure; if he'd been some Brit jerkoff with a neat haircut but no musical chops, we'd have mourned his passing within a matter of minutes rather than the now 26-plus years of questioning and reflecting that his legacy has endured.
Overall, this film is great as a documentary, a biography, and a meditation on artistic temperament. But what it does more than anything else, especially now that it has resurfaced in a new DVD edition, is resurrect the old questions his death left behind: what might have become of Lennon's music? What else could he have accomplished? What trajectory would rock and roll have followed if he lived? Imagine considers those infinite possibilities, and opens the door for our imaginations to flourish just as Lennon's did.
Score: 8 out of 10
The Video
Because of the varied source material, the overall quality of the transfer for this Imagine (Deluxe Edition) is satisfying but inconsistent. The home movies, for example, were culled from 16mm film stock, so the graininess perseveres even in the most clear and clean images; on the other hand, the "new" footage looks great, offering an admittedly Olan Mills-style sheen to the image, but pristine nevertheless. Ultimately, however, this transfer is completely faithful to the overall source material - that is, the completed feature film: Imagine is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio preserving the theatrical exhibition.
Score: 7 out of 10
The Audio
Despite only a 2.0 Dolby Stereo Surround audio track, this film sounds very good: the dialogue and interview footage, even in sequences where the recordings were dodgy, are clear and discernible. The songs, concert footage and musical accompaniment, meanwhile, are especially good, offering even a few surprises that longtime fans of Lennon's music might not know (I forgot, for example, what a funky cadence lies beneath "Strawberry Fields Forever," but was summarily reminded).
Because much of the audio was taken directly from the original sources - which includes radio interviews, properly-microphoned sit-ins or other interviews, this new version of the film fully maintains the integrity and quality of Lennon's comments, be they musical or not.
The film literally follows Lennon from his first days to his last, featuring interviews with his schoolteachers, bandmates, friends and family, offering a precursor to the autobiographical narrative since told in films like Tupac: Resurrection and other biopics. Much of the film footage is culled from live performances, recording sessions, and home movies, although there are more than a handful of sequences shot especially for the film (advertising the egregiously bad form of late '80s fashion). Cheeky and intimate, Imagine offers a virtually unprecedented glimpse of a man who embraced the unique and sometimes painful twists and turns in his life, one of which ultimately heralded his untimely demise.
There are some really interesting revelations to be found among the sometimes wanderlust narrative, including the pointed and hurtful references Lennon made to his former bandmates (particularly the "cute one") in some of his early solo music, and several scenes which acknowledge his shortcomings as a father and husband. But these are all included in the service of painting a full picture of Lennon, who in hindsight was certainly a musical genius, but also mercurial in his execution of that talent as he was in most things, and sometimes hypocritical.
Lennon, after all, famously (if not inaccurately) claimed that the Beatles were "bigger than Jesus," responded to criticism of his disparaging remarks about Paul as veiled references to himself (a political answer if ever there were one), and welcomed vagrants - at the cost of a lecture - into the gardens of his palatial estate. But the combination of these elements only adds to his mystique - again, as it does to all great artists of any medium - as it suggests those juxtapositions and disparities are what made him such an historic figure; if he'd been some Brit jerkoff with a neat haircut but no musical chops, we'd have mourned his passing within a matter of minutes rather than the now 26-plus years of questioning and reflecting that his legacy has endured.
Overall, this film is great as a documentary, a biography, and a meditation on artistic temperament. But what it does more than anything else, especially now that it has resurfaced in a new DVD edition, is resurrect the old questions his death left behind: what might have become of Lennon's music? What else could he have accomplished? What trajectory would rock and roll have followed if he lived? Imagine considers those infinite possibilities, and opens the door for our imaginations to flourish just as Lennon's did.
Score: 8 out of 10
The Video
Because of the varied source material, the overall quality of the transfer for this Imagine (Deluxe Edition) is satisfying but inconsistent. The home movies, for example, were culled from 16mm film stock, so the graininess perseveres even in the most clear and clean images; on the other hand, the "new" footage looks great, offering an admittedly Olan Mills-style sheen to the image, but pristine nevertheless. Ultimately, however, this transfer is completely faithful to the overall source material - that is, the completed feature film: Imagine is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio preserving the theatrical exhibition.
Score: 7 out of 10
The Audio
Despite only a 2.0 Dolby Stereo Surround audio track, this film sounds very good: the dialogue and interview footage, even in sequences where the recordings were dodgy, are clear and discernible. The songs, concert footage and musical accompaniment, meanwhile, are especially good, offering even a few surprises that longtime fans of Lennon's music might not know (I forgot, for example, what a funky cadence lies beneath "Strawberry Fields Forever," but was summarily reminded).
Because much of the audio was taken directly from the original sources - which includes radio interviews, properly-microphoned sit-ins or other interviews, this new version of the film fully maintains the integrity and quality of Lennon's comments, be they musical or not.
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