Let It Be was the final film done by the Beatles.It happens to be a documentary wherein the recording sessions of the Fab Four for the release of the final album was being filmed by Michael Lindsay- Hogg.The band is shown rehearsing,performing,recording and sometimes arguing as they try to complete songs.Also included is the rooftop concert of the band which happens to be their final live appearance.Majority of the documentary shows John,Paul,George and Ringo are doing various things.Also,glimpses of Yoko Ono were caught on camera as she watches the band.Then,Billy Preston later join them.The end is near for the most influential and successful band in rock history.The viewer can see that the band members are no longer enjoying each other's company and what they are currently doing.Added to that,it was evident that there has been a lot of infighting among them and they are ready to go to different directions anytime soon. The presence of Yoko serves more of a distraction rather than an inspiration.But despite of the uninspired actions that the band members are currently taking and being on the brink of breaking up,they still managed to make great music.The musical talent of the group just shined throughout the documentary.The Academy Award it won for Original Music during its year of release only proves just that.

Documentary of the Beatles recording their last album "Let It Be". It was supposed to show a live functioning group happily working. Instead we get the Beatles arguing a lot and tearing each other apart verbally. It's unpleasant to watch--especially if you're a Beatles fan like me. Still the movie is fascinating to watch to see the Beatles interacting and developing songs. I caught this multiple times at a revival theatre in the 1980s (they ALWAYS showed it with "Help" and "Yellow Submarine"). Audiences loved it and it was a lot of fun to hear people booing and hissing whenever Yoko Ono or Linda McCartney popped up (everybody blamed them for the Beatles breaking up--which isn't true). The film was very grainy and (at times) inaudible but I still loved it. The rooftop concert at the end was a lot of fun (and imitated in "Across the Universe"). So it is depressing but fascinating. I give it an 8. Recommended for Beatles fans only.

It's impossible for a Beatles fan such as myself to be objective about 'Let It Be,' so this is more remembrance than review. For example, I remember being 14 years old, picking up the newspaper one day and seeing a small headline that read, "Beatles back together!" or something similar. This, I thought, was good news even though I wasn't really aware that they had permanently split. The headline as it turns out was misleading, to say the least. It simply meant that 'Let It Be,' the movie, was finally opening in our town. I didn't see it then; it was several years later, when it was a staple at 'midnight movie' showings (as was 'Magical Mystery Tour'). The average non-Beatles-loving film critic typically describes 'Let It Be' as slow-moving, boring in places, with only one really good scene- the rooftop concert at the end. For someone though who's early life played to an ongoing soundtrack of Beatle songs, 'Let It Be' is a wistful, sad, occasionally funny, open yet closed look at our heroes as they make preparations for their own funeral. The Beatles actually would continue for another year after the film was shot (they had yet to make 'Abbey Road,' for instance), but it is clear that 'Let It Be' catches them at as low a point as they were to reach in many ways. John sings but talks very little; he was into 'non-verbal communication' at the time, which basically meant staring blankly at other people and not answering them. When you consider there were hundreds of hours shot and Lennon was famous for his wit, it is a bit depressing that what we see in these ninety minutes was considered the best footage available of him. George Harrison is somewhat more talkative and not very happy either; he tries to appear reasonable but it's clear that Paul McCartney is like a festering wound to him that won't heal or go away. At times this animosity boils over (though only occasionally in the released version; there are many more examples in the unreleased footage) such as the infamous exchange between Paul and George during a dispute over how George should play a guitar part. "I'll play whatever you want me to play, or I won't play at all if you don't want me to play," Harrison snaps. "Whatever it is that will please you, I'll do it." Ringo provides a comforting presence, his hang-dog, neither here nor there expression almost uplifting given the circumstances. The only one of the four who seems able to muster enthusiasm for the project, or anything else for that matter, is Paul McCartney. He is seen throughout as cajoling, joking, arguing, pestering, and in general urging the others on, suggesting ideas for the film and beyond. Depending on one's point of view and opinion of McCartney, he is either the one Beatle still trying to create magic, or a colossal pain in the ass. It seems clear the other Beatles consider him the latter, at least at this point in time. There are lots of off-key rehearsals in the film, but also a few finished set-pieces, mainly of McCartney songs like 'Two Of Us' and the title track, which is a wonderfully subdued performance by the four. Still, by this point in the movie, one begins to feel that the only way 'Let It Be' can redeem itself is by all four Beatles setting up their amps and drum kit somewhere and playing some good old rock and roll. Which is exactly what they do, on the rooftop of the Apple building. For the last twenty minutes or so, all the bad vibes magically, mysteriously vanish and the Beatles are the Beatles again, charging through 'Get Back,' 'I've Got A Feeling,' 'Don't Let Me Down,' and 'One After 909', before reprising 'Get Back' as London police show up to wag their fingers and tell the Fab Four to turn that noise down. It's a great, funny, energetic scene that has since passed into legend, and rightfully so. And it sees 'Let It Be' ending on just the right note, as our heroes exit the stage for the last time.

"Let it Be" is not a good documentary. The first half simply consists of a cameraman sitting in on the Beatles recording for the "Let it Be" album. Everyone looks like they are having an awful time. John Lennon obviously could care less about the music, and instead is with Yoko, who sits in on the recordings. Ringo Starr, the usually happy and smiling drummer is sullen and bored. George Harrison has fun helping Ringo, but other than that, he too is angry and seems bored. Paul McCartney is obviously trying to have a good time, and might be more so than the others, considering the bulk of the songs are written and sung by him. The animosity between the group members is painful to watch, and not only that, but it's not interesting. The whole first part of the film, the group members are constantly eyeing each other (along with the cameraman), and they all seem really bored, and because of this, the audience grows bored too. The only positive for this part of the film is some of the music is good, where some of these recordings sound awful and stiffly played.The second part of the film consists of the Beatle's final live performance on rooftop. This was a great pick-up compared to the first half. The Beatles at first seem like they aren't going to enjoy this, but you can tell by most of their faces that they are having a good time. Many of the songs previously recorded in the last part of the film are sung here, and sound better here than before.Now, it might not sound fair that my review of the film is directly affected by the Beatles attitudes during this time, but it really made the film hard to watch. Not necessarily hard to watch in a sad way, because this was not about the Beatles breakup, but about their final months together as a band. It was just not entertaining, or enjoyable. Where the other Beatles films (although they weren't documentaries) were usually goofy and silly, though stupid, this was boring and dull. The only real reason to watch this is if you are a huge fan of the Beatles, if you want to see what the recording studios look like, or if you enjoy seeing unhappy people (excluding McCartney who was obviously trying to keep his cool).My rating: * 1/2 out of ****. 86 mins.