DVD : The U.S. vs. John Lennon
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Format: NTSC
Sales Rank: 159117
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In retrospect, it seems absurd that the United States government felt so threatened by the presence of John Lennon that they tried to have him deported. But that's what happened, as chronicled in directors David Leaf and John Scheinfeld's The U.S. vs. John Lennon. The film starts slowly, with a familiar look at the former Beatle's troubled childhood, his outspokenness as one of the Fabs ("We're more popular now than Jesus Christ," etc.), and his eventual hookup with Yoko Ono, paralleled by the growth of political protest in '60s America, particularly against the Vietnam War. John and Yoko went on to stage their own peaceful demonstrations, like the Canadian "bed-ins," but these were largely harmless media stunts. It was when the Lennons moved to New York in the early '70s and took a more active role in the anti-war movement, making friends with radicals like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Black Panther Party founder Bobby Seale, that the government got interested--and paranoid--and men like President Richard Nixon, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, and right-wing Sen. Strom Thurmond began actively looking for ways to silence him (it was Thurmond who came up with the deportation idea). That's also when the film picks up. An array of talking heads weighs in, ranging from Ono and others sympathetic to Lennon's plight (Walter Cronkite, Sen. George McGovern, even Geraldo Rivera) to those on the other side, including Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy. Though The U.S. vs. John Lennon is hardly impartial, it's safe to say that although Lennon was more an idealist than an activist, he was an influential celebrity whom Nixon viewed as a potential nuisance in an election year. And even once Nixon had won the '72 presidential race, the Immigration and Naturalization Service refused to drop its case. Why? "Anybody who sings about love, and harmony, and life, is dangerous to somebody who sings about death," says author Gore Vidal. "Lennon... was a born enemy of the U.S. He was everything they hated." For music fans, Lennon's solo recordings provide the soundtrack. The DVD also contains considerable additional documentary footage. --Sam Graham
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I saw this movie and i must say i have mixed emotions.I thought seeing the interviews he made were interesting.There is something about this man that just made you listen.He felt very strongly about issues,and he wanted to voice an opinion.To see him speaking his mind all these years later,just makes you realize what a big loss to the world he has been.One thing i hate about seeing documentaries on him,is why do we always have to be reminded of his tragic death?I mean one minute he appears in an interview happy to get his citizenship,next thing you know you hear gunshots,and we get reminded of that awful day.It is something that sickens me ever so badly,and i always try to remember him for what he did in life.Another part i hate seeing is when those very stupid people were burning Beatle albums.Is there still anyone that believes Jesus would have done that?So he said a few things he shouldn't of said,in hindsight what difference does it make now?
But upon saying that there is some realy good footage,and most of it is enjoyable.
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My wife loves it. She is a long time Beatles fan and thought it was excellent
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Product was shipped in timely manner and is as described. No problems with this transaction.
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So the thing that I enjoyed about this documentary is that it does not really rehash all of the stuff we already knew very well.
The movie pretty much starts at the break-up of the Beatles. It covers Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover, and most of the seventies, and concludes with the assassination of John.
There is a brilliant interview with Gore Vidal who rips into past presidents very well.
I love it. This is a must have for John Lennon fans.
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In a recent DVD review of A Tribute to John Lennon, a film that chronicled a concert held in New York City in early October, 2001 in the immediate aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, I started the review with the following paragraph:
"I am here to rain on this tribute to the work of John Lennon in New York City in early October 2001 on two counts- musically and politically. As to the music. I make no bones about the fact that, as a product of the Generation of '68, I grew to adulthood with this music, however, in any choice between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, in my book the Stones win hands down. The same applies to comparisons to Lennon as an individual artist. John Lennon could write lyrics with the best of them, no question, but here is the real question- which song, for example, better expresses the sense of working class alienation and, more importantly, what to do about it- Lennon's Working Class Hero or The Stones' Street Fighting Man?'
I then went on to detail my militant leftist politics differences with Lennon's essentially pacific, almost childishly naïve politics. I stand by those remarks here. Nevertheless, as my headline indicates, in this documentary we are dealing with a different issue that traces the American government's (with who knows what other government's complicity) nefarious persecution of Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono for their brand of radical political activities. In their efforts to avoid deportation all ... Read More
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