Not Coming to a Theater Near You
You know him?”
“Not socially. His name’s Jaws, he kills people.
Richard Lester reteams with the Beatles for this fairly slapdash follow-up to A Hard Day’s Night. It’s mostly failed by its totally perfunctory screenplay, which not surprisingly consists of a few loosely connected scenes in which the Fab Four pretends to look enthusiastic about being in a film. Ringo is the only Beatle looking remotely game, which is probably why the film is essentially about him and his travails with a certain ring belonging to a non-specifically racist sacrificial cult from the Bahamas, led by Leo McKern for some reason. Virtually everyone else looks uncomfortably high and behaves accordingly: George remains quiet, John makes snide remarks, and Paul looks cute. Ringo seems to have been the only Beatle who could be both high and charming on camera, which likely explains why he was the only Beatle with a subsequent acting career of any note (The Magic Christian, Caveman, Son of Dracula, Shining Time Station, etc.). (George’s HandMade Films, on the other hand, made perhaps the more lasting contribution to cinema on the other side of the camera.)
All of this is nonetheless to say that this is a great Beatles film, with some truly groundbreaking and stunningly filmed ur-music videos that more than make up for the laziness everywhere else in the film. And it should be said that this is a great and often overlooked period for the Beatles’ music, too, coming just before the Shea Stadium concert, Rubber Soul, the “Jesus” comment, and representing (along with Beatles for Sale) their best pure-pop songwriting. Harrison’s “I Need You” is a stand-out, as is Lennon’s “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” which the band performs in their totally awesome mod quadruplex.
The official Beatles website has a really fancy Help! mini-site which everyone should check out immediately.
by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Capitol DVD
02 Apr 2008 4:44 PM | Comments (2)
I’ve often wondered how much of Ringo’s tenure in the Beatles was due to his peerless ability to show up and put on silly costumes.
Well, I’m wondering now.
For me, the first half of Help! brings giddy joy almost on par with Hard Days. Sadly, as soon as the Fab Four make it to the Bahamas, the film derails severely.
On a side note, those interested in Richard Lester, and filmmaking in general, owe it to themselves to check out the book Getting Away With It: Or The Further Adventures of the Luckiest Bastard You Ever Saw by Steven Soderbergh and Richard Lester. It’s half honest to blog diary by Soderbergh dealing with the crossroads of his career leading up to Out of Sight, and half transcripts of Soderbergh interviewing Richard Lester looking back on his career.
It is an essential read for any bee-attle.
Evan
3 April 2008
1:09 PM