The Beatles: Get Back, directed by Peter Jackson, is one of the best and most important music documentaries ever to be made.
This film was made up of unused footage from the 1970 documentary Let It Be. This is crucial to know because Let It Be showed the turbulence between the band members. Let It Be also only showed a fraction of what was actually filmed, something The Beatles: Get Back took advantage of adding. Both of these documentaries depict The Beatles preparing for their famous rooftop concert which was also the last time they played live. Unlike Let it Be, Peter Jackson’s rendition of the documentary showed the truth of what really happened with the band
For over fifty years people believed that it was mostly Yoko Ono’s (John Lennon’s girlfriend) fault for breaking up The Beatles. Even though as time went on this was generally thought of as false, people still believed it was her fault. This footage was left sitting for that time holding the true ending of The Beatles, and in 2021 it was released. While watching viewers realize that it was a multitude of different events that caused The Beatles to break up. One of these was the death of Brian Epstein (who was The Beatles manager) by a drug overdose. Several times in the film, the band members mention how hard it is without him. His death also caused a lot of tension because he was in charge of the business side, which was something The Beatles never had to deal with.
The documentary’s greatest downfall is its length. It was split into three parts which total over seven hours of footage. While the length might be daunting for some people, there is not a single section that should be cut. Every minute matters and gives viewers an interesting insight into how The Beatles made music. We end up getting to see their process and how they develop the songs.
The format and editing of this documentary are impressive. Even though almost all of the footage is from 1969, they color the objects and people extremely well, giving the characters more emotion and a cleaner look. Viewers really feel like they are characters in a movie instead of the almost godlike appearance they are given by the public. The documentary is also cut together very well, making a very linear story that is easy to follow.
This documentary should be watched by everyone. Pay the $8 to get Disney Plus for a month and watch the documentary. Even if you aren’t a Beatles fan you should watch The Beatles: Get Back because it is that good.
MOOSE PRINTS 