A Hard Day's Night (1964)

Preamble

This is going to be a hard review to write. Not only is this the first film on the list that I have seen before (a few times if I'm honest), I am also a big fan of The Beatles so I am going to have to work hard to seperate my impressions of the band and their music from those of the film. My apologies in advance if I don't succeed. The problem is slightly eased by the fact that the music and film were really developed together, and need to be treated as a single item in many ways.

What I already knew

Quite a lot really. I've seen A Hard Day's Night previously, and as a Beatles fan I know a fair bit of the history, so this is far from unknown territory for me. Most notable for me is probably the fact that I really didn't expect to see this film on the list; I had never considered it in terms of a film before, concentrating more on the music.

Review

How else could this film open other than with that iconic first chord from A Hard Day's Night (the song)? The amount of debate about exactly what the chord is frankly boggles the mind, and either demonstrates the brilliance of The Beatles, or shows obsession gone mad. You decide.

The opening scene of John, George and Ringo running down the road really sets the mood for the film, especially when George falls over (probably due to running while keeping one hand in his pocket...fool!) which actually looks quite painful. A Hard Day's Night is not scared of making The Beatles looking a bit foolish, which is quite refreshing. It also doesn't look scripted, and possibly exposes a 'real' glimpse of the boys, which is something that continues throughout the film.

To digress slightly, one thing I have been struggling with a bit so far in watching the films on my list is that it's hard to view them in the context of the time they were made. In the case of A Hard Day's Night I find this slightly easier because of what I know about the band, and it is worth bearing in mind that the film was made relatively early in The Beatles career. This was 1964 - about a year after they really made it big, and only a couple of years before they basically stopped playing live and became a studio band.

Once the opening 'chase' scene is over, you soon realise that as actors, The Beatles make very good musicians. That said, the timing is very good in places - particularly from John Lennon, and there are some great one-liners. The film is basically a vehicle for the the songs, but actually stands on its own in many ways. It's really a mixture of styles - some which were quite progressive for the time, and some which were more traditional. There are some great comedic moments - such as John Lennon in the bath, and some great performances; the sequence of And I Love Her really stood out for me.

The style and mood of the film moves around quite a lot ad and feels quite experimental at times, and while this could easily be confusing and result in a real mess; the whole thing hangs together very well. Probably what stand out the most are the scenes of screaming girls, pulling their hair and wailing at their favourite Beatle. While these images have become something of a cliche, from speaking to my mother who saw them live, and retains fond memories of the time - that is exactly what it was like.

Clearly, this film doesn't make any great statments about life, and it was never intended to. My impression is that it was simply another marketing tool, but one that managed to utilise a talented director and four great 'ordinary' lads to create something unique. I don't think I can truly separate my admiration for The Beatles from the film, but perhaps that is not the point. The energy genuinely carries you along, and it's a very quick 90 minutes.

Overall, it's a film I could watch several times without getting bored. The dialogue is sparse in places, but cutting and intelligent as well, which makes for some great moments.

Rating: Buy it

Mrs Worm's Opinion

"They're not very good actors" (she's not wrong)