“One to One: John and Yoko” is an exciting new documentary one one of the most controversial couples in music history that delivers rare footage, unfiltered emotion and new insights into the iconic relationship. When I saw the documentary came out, I was skeptical there was anything left to say about Lennon and Ono after all these years.. I found myself shocked and amazed at what One to One has to offer.
This documentary coversLennon and Ono at the time when they moved to a Greenwich Village apartment in New York City in August of 1971. It also covers part of a concert Lennon did with the Elephant’s Memory band on Aug. 30, 1972 for a charity for people with disabilities.
The documentary starts with footage of Lennon performing his hit song “New York City” along with B-roll of New York and John and Yoko dancing. I liked that we got to see footage inside their Greenwich Village apartment, letting us have a glimpse of their everyday lives, lending the documentary an immersive vibe.
Throughout the documentary are clips of TV commercials and shows from the early 1970s, in which people were protesting former President Richard Nixon. There were also clips of John and Yoko on Shows such as The Dick Cavett Show and the Mike Douglas Show, where John and Yoko talk about their belief in peace, and their dislike of Nixon. There is also shocking footage of the assasination attempt on former Alabama Gov. George Wallace while camping in Maryland. Lastly we do get some clips of John and Yoko on their failed “We The People” tour attempt. We also get to see clips of the One to One concert they did back on Aug. 30, 1972, with the Elephant’s Memory band. They even had special guest Stevie Wonder join the concert.
Recordings of phone calls between John and Yoko give the audience a look into their lives from the inside. The B-roll of Commercials and Nixon events went well with the timing of the documentary. It really gives a sense of what the world was like at the time.
Lennon and Ono’s son, Sean Lennon, fixed the audio of the concert clips. I thought he did a really good job with the audio and making it sound fresh. I also liked some of the B-roll that they put on the songs. For example, for Instant Karma they used B-roll of the Cold War during the Nixon administration, and for Hound Dog they included B-rolls of Nixon and people who supported him and were against him at the time. I also liked the different angles we got from the concert that we have not seen before.
One thing I did not like about the documentary was the inclusion of the song Don’t Worry Kyojo, a track Yoko wrote about her daughter who she had with Anthony Cox before she married John Lennon. The song in general felt like there was no effort put in. It was basically Yoko repeating “Don’t Worry” and “Kyojo” 100 million times and calling that a “song.”
Given the long list of great songs Lennon wrote the film is lacking in concert clips of his performances. They only included six in total: Imagine, Mother, New York City, Give Peace a Chance, Don’t Worry Kyojo and Come Together. I wished they would have included a longer clip of Cold Turkey or Well Well and many more.
The documentary was directed by Kevin Macdonald, who produced it alongside Peter Worsley and Alice Webb. I thought they did a very good job of telling the story of John and Yoko, while also recording their views on the world and what was going on during the Richard Nixon administration.
One thing that bothered me about the movie was that they didn’t include John’s son Julian Lennon. Imagine they did a movie on Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr and did not include one of their children in the film. I felt like it was a smack in the face to make a documentary about John Lennon and not include his son Julian. He deserves better.
John Lennon and Beatles fans will not be disappointed with this documentary. It’s a great film that provides never before seen footage of John and Yoko on their concert tours, and also acts as a time capsule of what life was like in New York in the early 1970s. I would give “One to One: John and Yoko” an 8.5/10.
