For those of us who have closely studied the holy scriptures of Beatlemania, there isn’t too much new in “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years.” But hey, it’s a Beatles movie, so — no problem.
This awkwardly titled documentary, directed by Ron Howard, focuses on the Fab Four as a live band. This goes from playing in scruffy Liverpool basements to becoming a showbiz phenomenon to calling off touring in 1966 to concentrate on recording.
Vintage footage and improved sound give a strong picture of what the band looked and sounded like. Interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr (and clips of the late John Lennon and George Harrison) provide background.
They’d been a ferocious live act, but the “phenomenon” part of their career actually rendered that irrelevant. Thousands of fans screamed through ever second of every show. Not only could they not hear the Beatles, the Beatles couldn’t hear the Beatles.
They began playing stadium shows, because they could. But the performance hardly mattered anymore.
There’s an interesting documentary, or at least essay, to be made from that idea. Howard prefers to gather some pleasant anecdotes about the early days, and intersperse them with music and talking heads.
Some of the interview subjects are terrific, like director Richard Lester and Elvis Costello. Some seem curiously chosen, although hearing Whoopi Goldberg’s story about her mother surprising her with Beatles concert tickets is adorable.
Better are the clips of the Beatles being cheeky toward the press. Especially choice is Lennon telling a reporter his named is Eric, and being addressed thusly for the first part of the interview.
The music sounds great, although I’m not crazy about Howard using only snippets of songs, except on one occasion. If the point is to focus on the music, let’s hear the music.
But that’s typical of this project’s mixed-up nature. It doesn’t seem to know what to include or what to leave out, so it settles for a random sampling.
Still fun, of course. But compared to, say, Martin Scorsese’s splendid documentary about Bob Dylan, “No Direction Home,” it feels pretty tame.
There’s a bonus feature, and it’s a great one. After the 106-minute film, you will see the Beatles’ performance at Shea Stadium in 1965. That’s been available on DVD before, but this is about a half-hour’s worth of their performance set only, superbly restored for image and sound. It proves the Liverpool lads weren’t entirely disenchanted with live music yet.
“The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years” 3 stars
Ron Howard directs this compilation of Beatles live footage and interviews. There’s isn’t much new here, and the movie can’t decide on its focus, but of course the music (and the cheeky attitudes of the Fab Four) is glorious.
Rating: Not rated; probably PG for language
Showing: SIFF Cinema Uptown
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