Review: George Harrison: Living in the Material World

Directed by Martin Scorsese (“Goodfellas”, “Raging Bull”, “The Last Waltz”, “Shine a Light”) in 2011 and originally shown in two parts on TV in some countries, this is an exhaustive 3+ hour documentary on the ‘quiet one’ of The Beatles, George Harrison. If you’re looking for an account of the man himself from birth to death, however, or a film that simply focuses on his time with the other members of The Fab Four, you might feel strangely undernourished by this overlong documentary. Indeed it does seem at once both overlong and lacking in some areas. Although a section entirely devoted to his childhood would see the running time balloon even further, Scorsese does seem to give off the impression that nothing much before The Beatles really matters. I’m not sure how to reconcile the lack of some information with the already overextended running time, but I can’t deny it did bother me a bit.

 

It’s also not one of Scorsese’s more personal films, even less so than his brilliant Rolling Stones concert doco “Shine a Light”. Given it’s mostly a collection of photos and talking heads, just about anyone could have made this film, and indeed there’s nothing especially cinematic about it, either. But if you bear all of this in mind, what you will find is a loving yet still critical look at the life of a man who perhaps never quite got paid his proper dues. It doesn’t psychoanalyse the man, as such, and at times it comes across as something of a eulogy (albeit a critical and not always glowing one) of him by all of his friends and many (and varied) colleagues. On that level, it’s an engrossing film, and I couldn’t believe when it was over that more than three hours had gone by. I could argue that some of his side projects and interests in the field of racing and comedy could’ve been pared down (but not fully eliminated, they’re still interesting- and amusing, look for an hilarious Eric Idle mocking Billy Connolly in one brief piece of footage), as the film is definitely too long for a film about just one of the Beatles. However, anyone with even the slightest interest in Harrison or The Beatles surely can’t help but be generally satisfied with this film.

 

It’s not Scorsese’s best or most personal work, but it’s not necessarily meant to be, either. It’s about George, not Marty, and thankfully (unlike “Shine a Light”), Marty stays behind the fucking camera. I guess one could argue that you don’t really get deep inside Harrison’s mind here, but as I said earlier, he was always the ‘quiet one’, so perhaps this is as deep as it gets. He always struck me as someone who wanted his music to speak for itself. He wasn’t as camera-friendly as Paul McCartney, for instance (much as I can’t stand McCartney), nor as outspoken as John Lennon. Even in their films like “A Hard Day’s Night”, whilst Paul and John were yukking it up and poking fun, George was often in the background or off on his own. Perhaps this is why he has often been overlooked in favour of the more charismatic Paul and John. He had talent, but just wasn’t as outwardly charismatic or vocal as his peers. Perhaps this is also why the film seems to focus mostly on Harrison in relation to others, focusing on the Travelling Wilburys instead of his successful comeback solo album “Cloud Nine”, for instance. If you can’t get much out of the man, best speak to those around him, then. I found the exclusion of the “Cloud Nine” period particularly odd, though I certainly didn’t think another hour or so would be necessary, either, and the film doesn’t overdose on Beatles anecdotes, exactly, either (We know all about that stuff anyway, and Scorsese is clearly aware of that). Because he wasn’t the most publicity-seeking guy in the world, perhaps he’s best seen through the eyes of those who knew him and collaborated with him. But for some reason it bugged me. I was wondering if Scorsese would do a doco on Queen and just focus on the Live Aid performance and the Concert for Freddie It’s not quite the same thing, perhaps, but you see my point.

 

Harrison reminded me a bit of Cat Stevens in this, in that previously I had thought of them as being spiritual thinkers, somewhat intellectual, perhaps. However in recent years, just as Stevens in interviews has come across as a fairly average bloke (if a bit hippy-dippy), Harrison from what we see here seemed to me to be less a guy who found something deep and spiritual to latch on to and more a guy who was searching for meaning, searching for something spiritual. So just as I wouldn’t go to Stevens for great, theological insights, I wouldn’t have expected Harrison to have all the answers, either. And yet, there was a time indeed, when I (and I’m sure many others) thought he was really on to something. And don’t forget, Harrison experimented and indulged in a lot more than just Buddhism, Hare Krishna chants, and sitars. That’s not a criticism, just an observation.

 

Another observation is just how well-loved and well-respected Harrison seemed to be, and what a generous nature he seemed to have. Sure, he had his flaws, but there’s a moment where Ringo is talking about visiting George when the latter was gravely ill, which will likely move you to tears at his selflessness and generosity. The film doesn’t overdose on music clips, but there’s enough proof of his underrated talents, be it with the Fab Four, the Travelling Wilburys, or his solo work, including the wonderful ‘My Sweet Lord’, a song that even this cantankerous Agnostic Atheist finds absolutely beautiful.

 

This isn’t a great doco, it’s overlong yet overstuffed, and I’m not quite sure if the great Martin Scorsese really needed to be the guy to make it. I know he’s a fan of the music and all, but this could easily have been made by some no name hack for the BBC and no one would likely be praising it. It’s just a talking heads music doco. I good one, but one of many, nonetheless, and I expected more. I know it sounds like I didn’t enjoy this film, but that simply isn’t true. It’s just not as impressive as I had expected due to the subject and its director. However, it’s an interesting, often affectionate, occasionally affecting tribute to one of the most important musical icons of all-time who unfortunately was often overlooked in favour of the two musical geniuses next to him. It’s worth seeing just to behold the insanely bug-eyed, perpetually weird Phil Spector and his shithouse wig, presumably not long before he went to the slammer. Murderer or not, one has to say, my God, what a weirdo.

 

Rating: B-