Directors: Sam Rice-Edwards, Kevin McDonald

Revolving around the 1972 John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band’s ‘One to One’ concert at Madison Square Garden, this fascinating and keenly paced documentary charts John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s arrival in New York City at a turbulent time in US history, and their subsequent immersion into radical politics. The couple moved from their elegant English country house in August 1971, on Yoko’s wishes, into a small apartment in the West Village, Manhattan. For the purposes of the film, the makers have impressively reproduced their cluttered apartment replete with all of its potent cultural detritus. Lennon was evidently addicted to television and channel surfing, and the film’s blizzard of TV images (Nixon, Attica, Charlie Chaplin returning to America after his exile) effectively evokes the polarised, heady climate. The picture also outlines Lennon’s friendship with countercultural activist Jerry Rubin who here comes across as a faux radical narcissist. Recordings of Lennon chatting on the phone with friends and associates, were presumably sourced from the FBI who were bugging the singer at the time. In one chilling moment, when chatting with drummer Jim Keltner about the dangers of playing fundraisers, Lennon assures his friends that ‘I’m not about to get shot.’ Alongside the strong evocation of a troubled era and intimate character detail, the film features some exciting, pounding and restored footage of the ‘One to One’ concert, including a traumatic ‘Mother’ and a rousing ‘Come Together’.

David Willoughby

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