"George Harrison: Living In the Material World" (2011 release; 210 min.) is a two-part documentary about the life and times of George Harrison. As the film opens, several talking heads (including Eric Clapton) are asked "what would you say to him if he were here?" (to which EC replies: "have a cup of tea!"). We then go back in time to WWII footage, as George's two brothers talk about what he ws like growing up. It's not long before George is brought on by Macca to join Paul's and John's band. George was barely 16-17... At this point we are 10 min. into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this is the latest music documentary directed by Martin Scorsese, and per the usual, he does a very fine job of it. All of the usual highlights of the Beatles are captured, with a George-specific angle of course. It is hard to believe that George, born in 1943, was only 17 during their Hamburg days, and still not even 20 when the Beatles started to rise in the charts. Resulting from an LSD trip, George soon finds himself asking questions that lead him to spiritualism and meditation, something he would pursue the rest of his life. Part 1 of the documentary ends with the Harrison classic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in finished mode. Part 2 opens with the same song, but as a demo, as we learn that competition for songs is such that the Beatles pass on "All Things Must Pass", and Harrison stockpiles song upon song, leading to his triple-LP debut album "All Things Must Pass" in 1970. 1971's "The Concert for Bangla Desh" gets ample screen time, and in fact the last 40 years take up just the last hour of this documentary. It's nevertheless hard to fault Scorsese or Olivia Harrison (who produced and gets ample screen time).
As one of the talking heads sums it up well towards the end: "George battle the material world vs. the spiritual world". Along the way, this documentary oozes with fabulous music and tons of rarely seen archive footage and photos. If you are a fan of the Beatles and/or George Harrison, I am confident that you will enjoy this documentary from start to finish. We are now almost another decade later, yet this documentary is as relevant then as it is still now, and the legacy of George Harrison, if anything, continues to grow as time passes.
Couple of comments: this is the latest music documentary directed by Martin Scorsese, and per the usual, he does a very fine job of it. All of the usual highlights of the Beatles are captured, with a George-specific angle of course. It is hard to believe that George, born in 1943, was only 17 during their Hamburg days, and still not even 20 when the Beatles started to rise in the charts. Resulting from an LSD trip, George soon finds himself asking questions that lead him to spiritualism and meditation, something he would pursue the rest of his life. Part 1 of the documentary ends with the Harrison classic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in finished mode. Part 2 opens with the same song, but as a demo, as we learn that competition for songs is such that the Beatles pass on "All Things Must Pass", and Harrison stockpiles song upon song, leading to his triple-LP debut album "All Things Must Pass" in 1970. 1971's "The Concert for Bangla Desh" gets ample screen time, and in fact the last 40 years take up just the last hour of this documentary. It's nevertheless hard to fault Scorsese or Olivia Harrison (who produced and gets ample screen time).
As one of the talking heads sums it up well towards the end: "George battle the material world vs. the spiritual world". Along the way, this documentary oozes with fabulous music and tons of rarely seen archive footage and photos. If you are a fan of the Beatles and/or George Harrison, I am confident that you will enjoy this documentary from start to finish. We are now almost another decade later, yet this documentary is as relevant then as it is still now, and the legacy of George Harrison, if anything, continues to grow as time passes.