There have been plenty of Beatles-related documentaries in the past decade or so, and yes, I've reviewed most of them. But in my defense, The Beatles are a great subject, musically and biographically — and the best filmmakers are drawn to them.
Peter Jackson gave us the Get Back documentary miniseries and the latest installment of The Beatles Anthology. Ron Howard directed Eight Days a Week, about the group's touring years. Martin Scorsese directed Living in the Material World, his two-part biography of George Harrison. All of them were terrific — and all of them were made by Oscar-winning directors.
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville, who won an Oscar for his film about backup singers, 20 Feet From Stardom, has joined that club. He's already directed outstanding biographies of everyone from Johnny Cash and Anthony Bourdain to Steve Martin and Fred Rogers. And now, Prime Video is premiering his latest documentary, Man on the Run, about former Beatle Paul McCartney.
The word "former" is key here: While brief, artful montages encapsulate the frenzy and impact of Beatlemania, Man on the Run is focused on the decade immediately afterward — the 1970s. Specifically, it spans the period from when McCartney left The Beatles to when his former bandmate, John Lennon, was shot and killed.
Neville conducted many lengthy new interviews with McCartney, but uses only the sound. Virtually all the footage in Man on the Run is vintage, so there are no white-haired rock stars in sight. But because McCartney is an executive producer, and has provided a stunning amount of previously unseen private footage, there's lots of fresh stuff to see here.
The danger of McCartney having such input, though, is of Man on the Run becoming too sanitized as a personal biography. But it's not. The decade covered includes McCartney announcing the breakup of The Beatles, his very public musical feud with Lennon, the formation of McCartney's post-Beatles band Wings, even the "Paul is dead" rumor.
And in these new interviews, McCartney seems to be speaking honestly — not only about what happened, but how he felt about it all. On The Beatles breakup, for example, it was McCartney who announced it publicly — but it was Lennon who already had left the group. McCartney's reaction, at age 27, was to retreat with his family to a remote property he owned in Scotland — in a vintage interview, Linda McCartney recalls her husband's out-of-the-blue suggestion.
Man on the Run relies on other voices and perspectives to defend some of McCartney's infamous actions during this period. Lennon's son Sean, for example, excuses McCartney's stunned, understated reaction to John's death — when asked by reporters, he called it "a real drag" — as having been in shock.
And Lennon himself, in an interview filmed years after The Beatles' breakup, admits that McCartney was right in hating and suing the manager, Allen Klein, who John had brought in to handle the group. At the time, Lennon and McCartney even attacked one another in song — and in a new interview, McCartney is very open about how much that stung.
That same refreshing honesty extends to other key moments — the formation of his group Wings and recruiting Linda as its first charter member, his jail time in Japan for bringing pot into that country, even the time Lorne Michaels, on Saturday Night Live, jokingly offered The Beatles a ridiculously small check if they would reunite on his show.
Man on the Run is more about the man than it is about his creative process. But his music runs all through the documentary, and it all adds up to an impressive, inspirational second act.
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Transcript:
DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. Today, on Prime Video, the new documentary "Man On The Run" makes its streaming premiere. It's about Sir Paul McCartney, but it's not about his years with the Beatles. Instead, it's about his first years without them. Yes, there have been plenty of Beatles-related documentaries in the past decade or so. And yes, I've reviewed most of them. But in my defense, the Beatles are a great subject, musically and biographically, and the best filmmakers are drawn to them. Peter Jackson gave us the "Get Back" documentary miniseries and the latest installment of the Beatles anthology. Ron Howard directed "Eight Days A Week" about the group's touring years. Martin Scorsese directed "Living In The Material World," his two-part biography of George Harrison. All of them were terrific, and all of them were made by Oscar-winning directors.
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville, who won an Oscar for his film about backup singers "20 Feet From Stardom," has joined that club. He's already directed outstanding biographies of everyone from Johnny Cash and Anthony Bourdain to Steve Martin and Fred Rogers. And now, Prime Video is premiering his latest documentary, "Man On The Run" about former Beatle Paul McCartney. And the word former is key here. While brief, artful montages encapsulate the frenzy and impact of Beatle mania, "Man On The Run" is focused on the decade immediately afterward, the 1970s. Specifically, it spans the period from when McCartney left the Beatles to when his former bandmate, John Lennon, was shot and killed. Neville conducted many lengthy new interviews with McCartney but uses only the sound. Virtually all the footage in "Man On The Run" is vintage, so there are no white-haired rock stars in sight. But because McCartney is an executive producer and has provided a stunning amount of previously unseen private footage, there's lots of fresh stuff to see here.
The danger of McCartney having such input, though, is of "Man On The Run" becoming too sanitized as a personal biography, but it's not. The decade covered includes McCartney announcing the breakup of the Beatles, his very public musical feud with Lennon, the formation of McCartney's post-Beatles band Wings, even the Paul is dead rumor. And in these new interviews, McCartney seems to be speaking honestly, not only about what happened, but how he felt about it all. On the Beatles' breakup, for example, it was McCartney who announced it publicly, but it was Lennon who already had left the group.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "MAN ON THE RUN")
PAUL MCCARTNEY: John had come in one day and said he was leaving the Beatles. He said, it's kind of exciting. It's like telling someone you want a divorce. But I was thinking, what do I do now? Because it'd been my whole life, really. You know, I've had growing up, going to school and then becoming the Beatles. It was a puzzle I had to kind of unravel.
BIANCULLI: Paul's reaction at age 27 was to retreat with his wife, photographer Linda Eastman, and family to a remote property he owned in Scotland. In a vintage interview, she recalls his out-of-the-blue suggestion.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "MAN ON THE RUN")
LINDA EASTMAN: He said, I've got this farm. I know you won't like it. But it was so beautiful up there.
(SOUNDBITE OF SHEEP BAAING)
EASTMAN: Way at the end of nowhere. Civilization dropped away. It was quite a relief.
BIANCULLI: "Man On The Run" does rely on other voices and perspectives to defend some of McCartney's infamous actions during this period. John Lennon's son, Sean, for example, excuses Paul's stunned, understated reaction to John's death. When asked by reporters, Paul called it a real drag, having been in shock. And John himself, in an interview filmed years after the Beatles' breakup, admits that Paul was right in hating and suing the manager that John had brought in to handle the group. At the time, John and Paul even attacked one another in song. And in a new interview, Paul is very open about how much that stung.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOW DO YOU SLEEP? (TAKES 5 AND SIX / RAW STUDIO MIX)")
JOHN LENNON: (Singing) The only thing you done was yesterday.
MCCARTNEY: The only thing you did was yesterday was apparently Allen Klein's suggestion. But the back on my mind, I was thinking, but all I ever did was "Yesterday," "Let It Be," "The Long And Winding Road," "Eleanor Rigby," "Lady Madonna." [Expletive] John (ph).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOW DO YOU SLEEP? (TAKES 5 AND SIX / RAW STUDIO MIX)")
LENNON: (Singing) Tell me, how do you sleep?
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "MAN ON THE RUN")
MCCARTNEY: How do I sleep at night? Well, actually, quite well.
BIANCULLI: That same refreshing honesty extends to other key moments - the formation of his group Wings and recruiting Linda as its first charter member, his jail time in Japan for bringing pot into that country, even the time Lorne Michaels on "Saturday Night Live," jokingly offered the Beatles a ridiculously small check if they would reunite on his show.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
LORNE MICHAELS: Now, here it is, as you can see, a check made out to you, the Beatles, for $3,000. All you have to do is sing three Beatle tunes - "She Loves You." Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a thousand dollars right there.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "MAN ON THE RUN")
MCCARTNEY: Me and Linda were over to John's apartment out of Dakota. He said, oh, this is a big show over here - "Saturday Night Live."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
MICHAELS: In my book, the Beatles are the best thing that ever happened to music. It goes even deeper than that. You're not just a musical group. You're a part of us. We grew up with you.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "MAN ON THE RUN")
MCCARTNEY: We got kind of excited. We'd just go down. We'd show up. Hey.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: It's "Saturday Night Live."
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "MAN ON THE RUN")
MCCARTNEY: But it was like, why? You know, I mean, it would be great for them. Would it be great for us? We've come full circle, and now we're off on another journey. So we just decided to just have another cup of tea and forget the whole idea.
BIANCULLI: "Man On The Run" is more about the man than it is about his creative process. But his music runs all through the documentary, and it all adds up to an impressive, inspirational second act.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET ME ROLL IT")
MCCARTNEY: (Singing) I can't tell you how I feel. My heart is like a wheel. Let me roll it. Let me roll it to you. Let me roll it.
BIANCULLI: Coming up, Justin Chang reviews "Dreams," starring Jessica Chastain. This is FRESH AIR.
