Review: A Hard Day's Night

It's not particularly a secret that I LOVE The Beatles. Their music is so well-written and so well-executed that it still feels original, despite being over 60(!) years old. I have heard their songs a million times already, but I can still listen to them and find something new to like every time. 

Okay, enough of that. The Beatles, besides making wicked awesome music, also made some movies. And I happened to stumble upon the dvd of what I heard is the best of those: A Hard Day's Night. I remembered this movie not only being featured in a book I have of the 100 greatest movies of all time, but also on as Roger Ebert's list of Great Movies. I bought it without second thought, of course.

How could I have refused with such great cover art? Seriously, this poster rocks.

The movie follows The Beatles around during a "typical" day. They run from hordes of screaming fans, they run from the cops and they run without any reason. In between the running they dance, make jokes to reporters ("How did you find America?""You turn left at Greenland") and try not to lose sight of Paul's grandfather. And they play music, of course.

The movie is just as nonsensical as it sounds. It's hard to shake the feeling that the planning stage of this movie took about ten minutes and a whole lot of liquor. And the execution is far from flawless, too: the story is pretty much non-existent, the montage and cinematography are rather awkward at times and the pace lies surprisingly low for a movie in which everybody is constantly running.

Insert obvious Forrest Gump reference here

But although the movie might not be as brilliant as I had hoped, it has two saving graces. The first is the soundtrack, of course. But the second is something that really sets it apart: the fun everybody is having. You can literally see the guys just grinning. Not because they are supposed to, but because they can't help themselves. The movie feels more like something a group of friends make for shit and giggles then a serious cinematic undertaking, but just happens to be starring four of the greatest musicians of all time.

At the time, A Hard Day's Night was a major hit. This was mainly due to the immense popularity of The Beatles. But how does it hold up now? Not as good as their music, that's for sure. If you are a fan and can appreciate something that feels like a 1,5-hour long silly Youtube video with a really high budget, like me, I think you will like this one. But if that particular prospect doesn't appeal to you, you are not really missing out on anything either.

Alias

I had a hard time not to include any Beatles music, but I managed to constrain myself. Here is another great sixties band.