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Imagine: John Lennon faked his death and has been hiding out on a chicken farm in northern Ontario all these years.
An irresistible premise, for Canadian Beatlemaniacs. But Let Him Be, the debut film by British-born director Peter McNamee, ends up using Lennon as a shallow plot device rather than exploring questions about what the legendary rocker and social activist would make of today’s world. Though not without its fun moments, much of the movie feels like sheer wasted opportunity. (More …)
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Nearly 30 years after his murder, millions of people still miss John Lennon.
But what if Lennon hadn’t died? Suppose he survived the attempt on his life in 1980 and went into hiding for 28 years? That’s the premise of Let Him Be, a new Canadian independent movie by British-raised filmmaker Peter McNamee which has its North American theatrical premiere tomorrow night (May 29) at AMC Dundas Square.
“What inspired me was reading something in a newspaper, five or six years ago, that said 90% of Americans think Elvis [Presley] is still alive,” said McNamee, who was born in Blackburn, Lancashire (yes, the place with 4,000 holes). “And I thought, well, what would happen if Lennon were still alive? That was the beginning.”
McNamee and the film’s publicists were at Tuesday’s opening reception for Stephen Bulger Gallery’s Give Peace a Chance photo exhibit to promote the movie.
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It was 40 years ago today.
Well, this week.
From May 26 to June 2, 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their iconic Bed-In for Peace at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel. And though many photojournalists covered the gathering, only one was present for all eight days.
The late Gerry Deiter represented LIFE magazine, snapping hundreds of pictures of the event. But LIFE bumped the story to run another about the Vietnam War.
Deiter filed his photographs away for three decades. Only after 9/11 was he inspired to go public with his archive, to spread Lennon’s message of peace and love when the world most needed it. (More …)
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“Government is bullshit.”
Risha Yorke looks up from a near-empty bowl of macaroni and cheese with conviction.
“You have to start with the people. If you can change the people, you can change everything. John got that.”
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I met John Lennon. Well, I didn’t meet him, per say. But we were in the same room. He and Yoko Ono held their iconic “bed-in” for peace at the Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal 40 years ago next Tuesday. But I remember it like it was yesterday.
John/Yoko Bed Piece, the latest stage offering from writer/director Risha Yorke, re-creates an event with a message as poignant now as it was then. (More …)
