An unmistakable beauty and sadness pervade an unfiltered, high definition look into the Beatles in their final live performance.
There is something haunting about watching The Beatles: Get Back documentary on Disney+. Seeing the band play at such a high level in early rehearsals for their final live performance… it’s surreal. The quality of the footage means it looks like something that was recorded just years ago, not decades ago when color televisions were a luxury item. Knowing that these are the final days of the band is a ruining realization; without the knowledge that this is the end of the Beatles makes the lighthearted and easy-going nature of the rock stars seem all the more tragic.
Points must be given to Disney for not cramming the footage full of narrative. Instead, small text subtitles appear when necessary. This gives the overall quality of the presentation over to a time capsule sort of sensation. On a 4K television, it’s like looking through a window, but instead of seeing a landscape of far away places, it’s looking through to far away times. Seeing the fashion choices of the ultra rich of the time is quite fun; the attempts at magnificence seem garish now, if only because copious amounts of fur aren’t today as glamorous as they were in the sixties and seventies.
Released in three episodes, the final one being revealed just last night, this is a must-watch for any music fan, any Beatles fan, and anyone who is interested in authentic history. There is no handwashing of history here. Only the warning at the beginning that you’re about to see people smoking will pull you out of the authenticity. This is simply a time travel device to an intimate look at icons you would never normally speak to for more than a few seconds at best. Closed off to almost everyone in the world due to talent and fame, the documentary gives each viewer the chance to see what it truly was like for the most prolifically successful band in history.
In having completed the episodes, I can only say that it makes one wish there were footage like this of other historical moments. It is as if history is locked away from us past the prior century. Would that we could watch George Washington captured in this manner, or Abraham Lincoln, or the signing of the Magna Carta. Instead, we are left with visions from paintings and stories. But here, available to everyone with Disney+, is an invitation to see something truly remarkable: to witness some of the greatest musicians in high definition, both digitally and artistically, from a time period that had only just reached the cusp of such ability.
Score: 10 (Perfect)
The Beatles: Get Back is a must-see documentary for most people, free of narrative intrusion or opinionated influence. I highly recommend it.
