Let It Be, now streaming on Disney+, represents the fully realized version of director Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s original documentary, which he shot in 1969 as The Beatles wrote and rehearsed for what was to become the Let It Be album. The film, which even with its spotty availability over the years became famous for its big rooftop concert finale, has only become more significant in the wake of Peter Jackson’s Get Back, the three-episode docuseries he made in 2021 using the same footage, and a brief back-and-forth between Lindsay-Hogg and Jackson accompanies this release. “One of the fascinating things about Let it Be,” Lindsay-Hogg says, “was it was originally going to be a concert. They hadn’t performed since 1966. But then after about ten days, we’re not doing a concert anymore. We’re doing a documentary…”
LET IT BE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: Lindsay-Hogg’s mission brief as director changed for a few different reasons, but one of the biggest was how little the Fab Four could stand to be around one another. Let it Be captures John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr in January 1969 as they take over Twickenham Film Studios in London and then the basement recording studio at Apple Records, on Savile Row in Mayfair. They’d been apart for some time before this, and had gathered to write and record new material. But cracks are visible, even as we hear half-formed versions of Beatles songs that are today considered classics. Early on, during a rehearsal for “Don’t Let Me Down,” Harrison is cynical while Lennon is checked-out, and Paul plays company man – or cop – as he attempts to keep the whole wavering thing on track. (McCartney’s bossy tendencies would factor into the group’s 1970 split.) When the guts of “I’ve Got a Feeling” surface, it sounds ballsy and raw. But Paul again starts to needle his bandmates with technical fouls, John would rather fill the verses with lyrical half-assery, and George chimes in from a distant corner of Lindsay-Hogg’s camera, sounding tired and irritated. “There’s no riffs.”
The “fly on the wall” nature of Let It Be is wonderfully immersive, and certainly a boon for the fans of a group whose every move and decision remains ripe for debate. What emerges are two moods. On the fractious side of things, there is the profound lack of communication between Beatles band members. When McCartney annoys Harrison, the latter finally snaps that he’ll play whatever Paul wants him to play, “Or I won’t play at all if you don’t want me to play,” foreshadowing the George-leaves-the-group storyline seen in Get Back. (McCartney also annoys Lennon, who dissociates completely, silently and kind of hilariously as Paul rambles and frets.) But Let It Be can also be a total ripper, like when organist Billy Preston joins the foursome for a loose and fun run through a set of rock ‘n’ roll standards, which culminates with a joyful Lennon’s improvisational call-outs. “FBI! CIA! BBC! BB KING! DORIS DAY! MATT BUSBY!”
The film also includes a section of formal takes, recorded at Apple, that are heavy on Paul-led piano numbers like “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road.” But it’s the somewhat impromptu rooftop concert that brings it all together, and the Beatles sound great on songs like “Get Back,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” and “One After 909,” at least until the Bobbies arrive to try and pull the plug.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of? If Let It Be is immersive, then Get Back is exhaustive. Each “episode” of Peter Jackson’s 2021 “documentary about a documentary” runs nearly the length of a feature film, and provides a ton of added perspective to the footage included in the Let It Be film. And while none of the Beatles were there, the recent doc The Greatest Night in Pop provides a similar fly on the wall aspect to the haphazard, ultimately successful 1985 sessions for the hit charity single “We Are the World.” Like George Harrison hanging with Ringo Starr for a sketch of “Octopus’s Garden,” in the Greatest Night footage it’s revealing to see which celeb is smoking, what people are drinking, and who is hanging with who.
Performance Worth Watching: The random Londoners who become onlookers for the rooftop concert that closes out Let It Be are fascinating in their behavior, brief bits of commentary that make it into the film, and their choices of eyeglasses and professional business attire. Nobody knew their lunch break on a wet day in Mayfair would be serenaded by the biggest band in England, who were simultaneously some of the biggest celebrities in the world. Unlike what would likely occur today if, like, Taylor Swift decided to play a show on top of some downtown building, the folks who gather before the Beatles on nearby rooftops or squint up from the street outside Apple Records react not as dancing and singing fans but curious observers, content to stay passive.
Memorable Dialogue: Throughout Let It Be, various takes on “Two of Us” offer various looks at the two of them, Lennon and McCartney, as they collaborate while navigating attempts to sort out their personal shit.
[Paul, singing, until he’s annoyed by John] “‘Two of us driving nowhere, spending someone’s…’” Get on the mic, you know, ‘cause I can’t hear you.”
[John, testy and sarcastic, but not really sarcastic and mostly testy, with Yoko Ono alongside] “Don’t sort of bitch about it, what you have you…”
Sex and Skin: Nothing much here, though Ringo Starr looks fab behind the drum kit during the windy and wet rooftop concert, clad in the red vinyl raincoat of his first wife Maureen Starkey. At the Twickenham rehearsals, there is also a stark dynamic between the chosen wardrobes of Paul McCartney and John Lennon – while Paul arrives each day clean and showered, in a selection of colorful, comfy-looking sweaters, John rolls into Twickenham in his favorite brown fur coat, in which he may or may not have slept. And what about George? Well, the phrase “sartorial splendor” comes to mind, manifested by the singer, guitarist, and songwriter’s perfectly knotted silk cravats, lime green trousers, and choice black velvet blazer that comes complete with matching hat.
Our Take: More like Let It Bicker! As it was with Get Back’s release in 2021, Disney+ providing a splashy platform for Let It Be highlights the very real disharmony and caustic fallout alive inside a band who, while perceived today as flawless legends, were very much feeling themselves in 1969. It’s not all bad, of course – it’s actually incredible to witness these guys conjure up some of their most incredible material, sometimes out of thin air. And maybe it’s a factor of our hot take economy and generally broken discourse. But the bickering Beatles, the cold-shouldering Beatles, the cuttingly sarcastic Beatles – these are the interpersonal moments that resonate most in Let It Be, because they peel back the curtain and let us peer inside. We aren’t seeing prepped-and-pampered performances, made pristine for broadcast. (Indeed, the Fab Four’s rejection of and disagreement over connecting this film to a concert is in part how it transformed into a documentary.) Instead, what’s of most interest here are the random rough moments and stretches of spotty concentration, the pieces of existing arguments, and the structural elements of disagreements to come, all swirling across the universe of four musicians who in a modern context are usually considered only in the context of their collective legacy.
Our Call: STREAM IT. What kind of tea would the bickering, full immersion, and behind-the-scenes feel of Let It Be spill if the Beatles were the biggest band of today? In a way, it still spills it, because the Fab Four are still a phenomenon, even 50 years after the fact.
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.
