Rhapsodies

This week I decided after watching a handful of heavy dramas and satires, I really need some light, inconsequential fluff to clear my palate. To do this I decided to watch some of the fluffiest thing I could think of, Richard Lester’s Beatles films. 

I’ve been a fan of the Beetles forever, back before the days of iTunes, when “Day in the Life” played on the car radio my day was complete. Along with the music I also liked the personalities of the band themselves, or at least the personas they created for the public to see, Paul, the Cute One, John, the Surly one, George, the Quiet one and… Ringo.  Who better to present this than the offbeat perspective of the wonderful Richard Lester?

In the first film on my list, A Hard Days Night, It’s a typical day in a half for the Beatles. They run away from their fans, ride on a train, do a recording, run away from fans, and when they have some fun running around on the grass. 

Oh yes, Paul’s grandfather is hanging out with them and causing trouble. 

This was a fun film about absolutely nothing. It’s just the Beatles meandering through life. Lester does some wonderful jobs with camera angles which makes the film especially engaging. The whole thing feels incredibly realistic, which makes every time the magical realism occurs (like John disappearing in the bathtub, it comes as a surprise. Or where the heck did their instruments come from when they’re playing a song in the trains mailroom) All and everything comes down to Ringo, who comes off as the odd man out. For all I said about the separate Beatle’s personalities, as far as the movie is concerned, the main three are mostly interchangeable and it’s Ringo’s bumbling that holds the plot along. 

The second film, Help! Has much more of a plot. A not quite Thuggee cult led by Leo McKern is performing a human sacrifice. However, they can’t carry it off because their victim does not have the sacred ring that is mandatory for the ceremony. It turns out she’s mailed it to England to the finger of Ringo. Now the cultists need to get their ring back, and if they can’t get it, they might as well sacrifice Ringo instead. 

This film was a lot more surreal than Hard Day’s Night with what passes as a plot consisting of putting the Beatles into a sixties James Bond film. It’s about as wonderfully ridiculous as that sounds.

Also Leo McKern makes a great Bond villain.