QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM VENICE

This isn’t just a film about the late Beatle and the Japanese-born performance artist, who once shared a bed and disseminated a message of “peace and love” to the globe. One to One is also a vibrant panorama of the United States in the years of 1972 and 1973, when the couple left John’s native Britain in favour of New York. From the comfort of their relatively small and cosy rooftop flat in Greenwich Village, they watch American television. That’s the communication vehicle that gripped a nation and shaped an entire era. The media also provides most of the the footage, the aesthetic and the texture of his loud and colourful doc.

The film title refer to a concert that John and Yoko performed for the Willowbrook Institute of New York for “mentally retarded” children (a term still widely used at the time). The juvenile mental health facility housed 5,300 minors, the biggest of its type in the world. The conditions were extremely unsanitary, as revealed in some disturbing images. The children were treated like wild animals, being allowed no more than three minutes to eat. Every single one of them had hepatitis. John and Yoko were so shocked that they decided to do something, in what turned out to be John Lennon’s only extensive performance after leaving the Beatles. He explains that the pesky “where do I begin [to change the world]?” question, which tortures so many people, has a very simple answer. So they decided to take action straight away. John and Yoko’s impetus to make a difference is enviable and indomitable. The tacit irony is that it took two recently-arrived foreigners to turn the Land of the Free upside down.

The images of the concert are spread throughout the movie. A rendition of Imagine to the disabled children is capable of moving the coldest of hearts. He lends renewed credence to the lyrics: “You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one”. John also performs the Beatles’ Come Together, while Yoko delivers the guttural Don’t Worry Kyoko (a song that she composed for her daughter, who was taken away from her at the age of 18 months). One to One is not a linear film. Instead it offers a kaleidoscopic glimpse into a time of fervour and change in the world’s most powerful nation. While Nixon forged ahead with the Vietnam War, people heckled him in every corner of the country, and even live on television. Tragically, he was reelected on landslide.

John and Yoko befriend two prominent poets: sharp-tongued, acerbic and rabidly homosexual Allen Ginsberg (who hilariously describes the wet and smelly bottoms of powerful politicians), as well as the more composed John Sinclair. They help to release the latter from jail; he had been imprisoned on marijuana possession charges. The film also ties in other historical figures who probably never met John and Yoko.. They include Charlie Chaplin: the British artist enters the US for the first time in 20 years, after a long-term ban was lifted (the US government feared his communist inclinations). On the other hand, there is no shortage of iconic capitalists: Nixon, his devoted voters, and a vintage version of Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger are also featured. Television footage blends seamlessly into the story, infusing it with poetic liberties

Yoko’s work is also presented in tiny snippets scattered across the 100-minute film. Hilarious telephone conversations reveal her resolute intent in buying living flies. She considers purchasing unhatched eggs, aware that the insects live to more than a few days. Finally, she uses the animals in her Fly performance (the invertebrates walk all over her naked body). The Bag Piece is central to the story: John and Yoko enter a large black bag, their temporary invisibility granting them privileges they could never boast. Yoko’s is deeply disappointed with the society that vilified her because of her sexually frank and empowered behaviour. Most Americans insisted that the “witch” broke up the Beatles.

The amount and the diversity of the footage obtained is genuinely impressive, presumably the outcome of very thorough archive research. And undoubtedly an exorbitant rights clearance. Even more significant is the assembling of the images. One to One is a masterclass in editing and montage. It smoothly navigates through different vehicles, textures and topics – in no chronological and topical order – to outstanding results. There is no voiceover, and special effects are kept to a bare minimum, instead allowing the images to speak for themselves. A fitting tribute to two authentic revolutionaries, and a turbulent period that helped to shaped the anxieties and the aspirations of countless modern-day artists.

One to One: John & Yoko just premiered in the 81st edition of the Venice International Film Festival.