Beatles fans rejoice! Beatles '64 is a celebratory love letter to the fans who have adored the Fab Four for decades. Producer Martin Scorsese and director David Tedeschi commemorate Beatlemania's early frenzy with a focused look at the band's first three-week visit to the United States in 1964 in the new Disney+ documentary. These young men took the nation by storm, breaking hearts and causing many a hormonal upheaval. Anyone interested in 20th century music, will also enjoy this playful nostalgic take — though those expecting an in-depth analysis might want to look elsewhere.
It's hardly surprising that Scorsese, no stranger to music documentaries (having made the legendary film The Last Waltz), spearheads this effort and enlists his longtime Emmy nominated collaborator Tedeschi in the director's chair. The pair previously worked together on Shine a Light and Rolling Thunder Revue, among other documentaries where they didn't so much dissect the context around the music as honour the artists and their work.
With Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr serving as co-producers, along with the families of John Lennon and George Harrison, Beatles '64 is essentially an authorized biography. Luckily, the film's fun atmosphere and quick pace doesn't allow audiences to actually dwell on that, and it certainly doesn't detract from the film being an enjoyable record of a specific time and place.
The film's immediate appeal comes from its wealth of archival footage and the speed at which it sprints along. Besides its emphasis on their historic appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, which drew 73 million viewers, the documentary mixes concert footage from later in that visit and previously unseen intimate footage of the band with fan interviews conducted at that time.
Beatles '64 includes newly recorded conversations with the surviving members and die-hard fans like writer Joe Queenan and composer/writer Jamie Bernstein (daughter of Leonard). The documentary achieves an appealing and balanced perspective as each side reflects back from their distinct points of view. Interviews with Harrison and Lennon, reminiscing during the post-Beatlemania period complete the picture, thereby giving everyone involved a voice.
Remarkably, the makers of Beatles '64 had access to a treasure trove of unseen footage from famed documentary brothers Albert and David Maysles. Two of the original experts in cinéma verité, the Maysles shot rare behind-the-scenes moments, along with interviews with some of the fans on the street and even those who snuck into the hotels. A trademark transcendent quality adds to these moments, typical of the brothers' best work. The Maysles capture the wholesome innocence of these devoted teen girls completely bewildered by their own passions. Becoming all the more charming when offset by the equally magnetic (and refreshingly ordinary) sweetness displayed by the Beatles themselves as they passed their free time goofing around while trapped inside their hotel suites.
It's easy to become completely swept up in all of this activity and excitement. Still, this is an in-depth analysis that also tries to be a survey, creating a bumpy ride at times. The documentary raises historical, political and even social issues with mild success, while also trying to maintain its very specific focus on the band and their effect on the younger generation. Structurally, it's something of an octopus that wants to control its tentacles but can't. By referencing the JFK assassination, Beatles '64 makes a point about the country's fragile state at the time of the band's arrival, but doesn't go much further than positing the theory that this was a nation in mourning, desperate for something positive to latch onto.
Similarly, the film tries to incorporate music history by folding in stories of the bands' predecessors, especially the Black musicians who inspired them. These artists, along with Elvis, are introduced with little discussion around their influence. The film teases out an underdeveloped symbiotic relationship, as Smokey Robinson and Sananda Maitreya (formerly know as Terence Trent D'Arby) discuss the Beatles's impact on them and other artists of the era. Had Tedeschi scratched more beneath the surface, such an approach would have been more impactful.
These offshoots, though, neatly launch questions about the type of men this new generation of white girls seemed to prefer. There's a brief clip from an old television interview with American feminist writer and activist Betty Friedan (The Feminine Mystique), who posits the idea of "the new man," one more sensitive and less sexually aggressive than someone like Elvis. Interviewees address this but again, there's no real dialogue around the subject. I'm not arguing for a miniseries instead of a film, but with only a few individuals invited to participate, there's only so much one documentary can do.
Despite these minor problems, Beatles '64 delivers an engaging experience primarily due to its focus on this iconic band and their fans. The documentary acts like a blueprint for any wildly popular musical act. A treat for fans, Beatles '64 allows us all to consider that, in music, passion overrules reason, and sometimes that's just as important as anything else. It's the love of the fans and their belief in the magic of the music that endures.