Comparing the Beatles to Taylor Swift would be considered blasphemous by many, but when trying to convey the super fandom surrounding the English rock band no other modern-day artist seems comparable. Taylor Swift had always been known to country music fans, but it was her shift to pop with the album 1989, released in 2014, that launched her popularity with a wider audience. For the Beatles it was much more instantaneous and Beatles ’64 perfectly captures the feeling of Beatlemania as it swept the nation following their first trip to the United States and their historic performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Beatles ’64 Plot
In 1984 the Beatles made their first trip to the United States where they performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. That three-week-long visit would forever change the lives of not only the musicians, but of millions of fans who experienced their music firsthand.
The Review
The impact of the Beatles on American pop culture and the world of music is difficult to fully grasp for those who weren’t their to experience it. David Tedeschi’s documentary works to take viewers back to a time when the Liverpool formed rock group were first introduced to American audiences. Like a time capsule of memories using a blend of archival footage and interviews with those who were there to see it happen, Beatlemania is once again sparked, albeit to a lesser degree and with varying results.
I can vividly recall my first introduction to the Beatles. I was in middle school and, as with many memories from my youth, it started with a girl. In an effort to impress her I’d purchased 1, an album released in 2000 encompassing every number-one single the band had released. I listened to that CD for years on repeat. I wore Beatles t-shirts and hoodies, and I had Beatles posters on my bedroom walls. I was experiencing my own form of Beatlemania, just forty-years after the rest of the world had.
Remembering that moment, and the feeling associated with it, is what Beatles ’64 is all about. Watching people recall their experiences and seeing the joy fill their faces as they discuss it is the best representation of this iconic moment in music history. Though their music is exceedingly tame by today’s standards, there was significant pushback from members of the community, primarily parents, in regards to the English band and their impact on impressionable youth.
The new film is produced by Martin Scorsese. He’s, of course, best known for his gritty crime dramas, but the filmmaker has a long history with music documentaries dating back to his work on Woodstock that shines through in the finished product. It’s clear that Tedeschi is passionate about the material, but the movie rarely captures or conveys the massive scale and scope of the Beatles’ impact on a generation, or the country as a whole.
Is Beatle ’64 Worth Watching?
Few documentaries achieve the difficult task of appealing to a wider audience than the group with a specific interest pertaining to the film’s subject matter. Fans of the Fab Four and those with a vested interest in music and music history will likely enjoy themselves, but others may feel shutout. Still, Beatles ’64 is a well crafted and insightful look at an important time in history.
Beatles ’64 Review – Beatlemania Returns
Beatlemania is re-ignited in the Martin Scorsese produced documentary Beatles ’64.
