Arena BBC2 12/11/11 / 21.45 :George Harrison: Living in the Material World

Latchy

Part 1

Episode 1 of 2, Arena, George Harrison: Living in the Material World

Duration: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Arena -UK television premiere of Martin Scorsese's of the late George Harrison.

Scorsese traces Harrison's life from his beginnings in Liverpool to becoming a world-famous musician, philanthropist and filmmaker, weaving together interviews with George and his closest friends, photographs and archive footage including live performances - much of it previously unseen.

The result is a rare glimpse into the mind of one of the most talented artists of his generation.

Part one looks at George's early years in The Beatles - from their first gigs in Hamburg and the beginning of Beatlemania, through to his psychedelic phase and involvement in religion and Indian music.
The programme includes contributions from Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Sir George Martin and Phil Spector. < Show less

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017lbh4

Ally Dick

Must admit I was disappointed with the films as a whole. Too much focus on meditation and lifestyle choices, and not enough on George's music. They didn't play enough of his songs

mathepac

Ally Dick wrote: »

Must admit I was disappointed ...

I was very disappointed. Only a brief passing reference to Wonderwall, George's magnum opus.

delbertgrady

I saw it in the cinema. It's very good, but it is far too long. Peter Bogdanovich's Tom Petty documentary ran for three hours but was paced much better. Scorsese's film sags in too many places, and some of the talking head anecdotes are absurd inclusions, not least Derek Taylor's widow, whose stories go on for ages and don't ever seem to have an end or meaning.
I thought Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle were among the best interviewees. Ringo comes across much better than Paul. McCartney seems to still have his defences up. His comments about how he will remember George are horribly generic, the type of thing he could say about anybody.
Also, if I'm being really pedantic, why not include George's cameo in The Rutles? And how come Cloud Nine (which, at the time, spawned the most successful solo Beatle single in years) is totally bypassed?
Having said all that, the amount of archive footage, most of which I'd not seen before, is very impressive. There's a five-star film in there, waiting to get out. I just wish they'd tightened the whole thing up.

Alzy

I enjoyed the 2nd part shown last night. I was quite interested in his meditation and Krishna lifestyle so it hit the spot for me.
I would have liked to see more of his music too but all in all I thought it was very good.

What a lovely man R.I.P. xxx

mathepac

Alzy wrote: »

I enjoyed the 2nd part shown last night. ...

I second that as well as previous poster's comments about fillers and content-free intereviews.

Latchy

delbertgrady wrote: »

I saw it in the cinema. It's very good, but it is far too long. Peter Bogdanovich's Tom Petty documentary ran for three hours but was paced much better.

I also thought it was a bit to long and the at least 5 minutes could have been cut of the Ravi Shanker sections of the film

Scorsese's film sags in too many places, and some of the talking head anecdotes are absurd inclusions, not least Derek Taylor's widow, whose stories go on for ages and don't ever seem to have an end or meaning.

Her ancedote of the time they all took acid was interesting in that she wasn't one of the usual people dragged out in similar documentrys to talk of their time spent with a Beatle or Beatles .She also reminded me a bit like John's sister (Julia Baird )

I thought Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle were among the best interviewees. Ringo comes across much better than Paul. McCartney seems to still have his defences up. His comments about how he will remember George are horribly generic, the type of thing he could say about anybody.

That's how Paul comes across and he does in interviews at times , come across as if reading from a script and doesn't show true emotion . Some of Ringos ancedotes have been heard before but discription of his drumming on' Here Comes The Sun ' was interesting .( incidently ,I met Ringo once in Amsterdam )

Also, if I'm being really pedantic, why not include George's cameo in The Rutles? And how come Cloud Nine (which, at the time, spawned the most successful solo Beatle single in years) is totally bypassed?

Nor mention of songs like 'All Those Years Ago , Got My Mind Set On You ,Fab and Blow Away .

George wrote some great songs like ,Here Comes The Sun and Something fom the Abbey Road album but complained of never getting as much album space for his songs as the other two otherwise , tracks from his fist solo album , All Things Must Pass might likely have appeared on the Beatles last two or three albums .

Having said all that, the amount of archive footage, most of which I'd not seen before, is very impressive. There's a five-star film in there, waiting to get out. I just wish they'd tightened the whole thing up.

There was some great footage ,lots of which we never saw until now and the discription by his wife of that terrible night the intruder broke in and stabbed George was harrowing to listen to, and very sad .

I do agree ...they could have took some section of the film out which took away from a very impressive profile .

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

McCartney described Lennons death as "a drag", he doesn't seem very good at been entirely open which is incredible considering some of the emotion he puts down in words on his songs.

Both his and Starrs contributions were really nothing new if you had seen the Anthology, which surely most that watched this had. Starr was more entertaining and forthright though, and the bit at the end where he chokes up when describing Harrison wanting to go with him to visit his sick daughter when Harrison was more or less weeks from dying was a real insight into the love they had for each other. Really hit home how much he misses his friend.

George was always my favorite Beatles, this film made me like him even more even though again it didn't reveal much new info that you wouldn't know already if a fan but the main thing that rang home was just how loved the man was by his friends/family. He really did seem like a special human being.

Lennon was the main man in my opinion in the Beatles, just slightly ahead of McCartney but Harrison is the guy I would rather hang out with out of all three.

thesultan

Watched the first one the other night, watching the second one now. A very good Mojo last month with George on the cover. 'Who Can See' for me is one of George's true great songs. Got his last album when it came out. 'Between The Devil and Deep Blue Sea' Is a lovely number.

Faing

Enjoyed every bit of it.

mcwhirter

Loved it all, thanks bbc!