"Lennon Naked" was rushed out on DVD in the UK about two weeks after the TV movie aired on BBC 4. With good reason -- it's not very good.
Christopher Eccleston of "Dr. Who" fame becomes another in a long string of actors who have played John Lennon on the screen, all trying to give what they hope an accurate portrayal of his character. And in the opening of the film, a black-and-white sequence set in 1964, he's actually quite good and believable as he continually directs barbed comments at Brian Epstein. The Beatles manager, by the way, is played by Rory Kinnear, son of Roy Kinnear, who played Algernon in the Beatles' film "Help!"
As in "Nowhere Boy," also on DVD in the UK, there are Lennon songs heard through the course of the film. These include including "Mother," "God" and "Look At Me" and one Yoko Ono song, "Remember Love."
Once the story moves on to his relationship with his long-missing father, Freddie Lennon (Christopher Fairbank), his wife, Cynthia (Claudie Blakley) and his future wife, Yoko (Naoko Mori), it gets cloudier as writer Robert Jones and director Edmund Coulthard play a continual guessing game trying to get inside Lennon's head.
Unlike "Nowhere Boy," which is all about his relationship with his mother Julia, "Lennon Naked" spends a little too much time on what little relationship he had with Freddie. Early in the film, he meets with him for the first time in years, then lets him live with him and Cynthia. Near the end of the film is a confrontation between John and Freddie. As a car brings Freddie to the house, John Lennon's voice is heard singing "Father, you left me, but I never left you" from the song "Mother." The discussion between the two erupts into an emotional moment when John asks Freddie why he abandoned him. "What about me?," John asks continually.
The marriage of John and Cynthia (Claudie Blakley) shows signs of falling apart fairly early as John lives in his own world. Yoko (Naoko Mori) begins to enter the picture after she sends him a card that reads only "Breathe." Later, the two pair up and their affair knocks the Lennon marriage apart. In a pivotal moment, Cynthia gives him an ultimatum, "It's me and Julian or her." "Is that it?," says John. "Then it's her."
Naoko Mori's Yoko Ono seems to be too serious and doesn't grasp the childlike nature of the real Yoko Ono. And it hard not to notice that when she's playing out Yoko's fairly wild (for the times) art activities and even her hospital stays when pregnant that she has the look of someone wondering what it's all about.
The film, which ends with the Lennons leaving for the U.S., includes dramatizations of the other three Beatles, as well as Derek Taylor and Lennon friend Pete Shotten. The actors playing the Beatles look like sloppy parodies and it's no wonder that Paul McCartney himself recently dissed films like this. (And also not seen on film but heard interviewing Lennon is Sir David Frost, again uncredited.) The Beatles figure very little in this film and for all its concentration on John and Yoko, it really doesn't explain that much about what brought them together.
Also getting a bad light in the film is John's mother Julia, who Eccleston as Lennon calls a "whore" in the emotional confrontation with his father.
Though it was shown on broadcast TV in the UK, it won't be in the U.S.: There's full frontal nudity involving the "Two Virgins" photo shoot, which begins as the two literally rip off their clothes to take photos and then make love. If anything, look for it on cable though we'd be surprised if any of the majors would take this instead of "Nowhere Boy."
"Naked Lennon" tries to be the devil's advocate of "Nowhere Boy." The title makes it seem like it would have been very revealing. But what's naked about the film is that there isn't really that much there to see.
(The DVD has no special features, only a menu allowing for scene selections and use of subtitles. Since this is a Region 2 DVD, it won't be playable in the States unless you have an all regions DVD player.)
A scene from "Lennon Naked."
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Comments
I watched a bootleg copy. Just awful--This portrayal of Lennon captures none of John's wit, charisma or talent. There's no singing, no nothing. Just whining and ugliness. Yes, John could be a "bastard", as Paul once said, but he got away with so much (including harassing poor Brian Epstein) because he was so charismatic and fun to be around.
I've now seen "Lennon Naked" and unfortunately, like "Nowhere Boy", I didn't care for it. My reasons, however are totally different. While I thought that "Nowhere Boy" was far too fabricated, "Lennon Naked" does seem to be more historically accurate. The problem I have is the way that John's character was written. I've loved John "warts and all" since I was a kid. This movie makes it seem like he's ALL warts. They should have called it "Lennon Mean". He's portrayed as cruel, cynical, brutish, and nothing but flawed. They've left out the other half of him which is kind, generous, funny, whimsical and loving. John was all of that (and a bag of crisps). John once said "Part of me suspects that I'm a loser and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty". I'm hoping that eventually, someone will make a movie about him that shows both of those sides fairly and accurately. I'm ever hopeful...
I agree with what has been said. The piece does not show John as complete. It is far too serious and makes him seem mean even in reenactments of interviews where he was clearly far more up beat and positive. The other Beatles look ridiculous! Paul is portrayed as an idiot, so far from reality! I would say only watch this out of mild curiosity. Nothing new here. A big disappointment. One more thing, the scenes with his Dad are mostly fabrications. Not sure what the filmmaker was trying to say.
Childlike would not be a word I would ever use in connection with Yoko. Not a fan of hers, but she is far too smart for that description.
I had the misfortune of watching "Lennon Naked" last night on public televison. It is full of time-line mistakes and inaccurate scenes that could have been done appropriately with actual film footage from the events. And the fact that they used an actor to protray a 26 yo John that was probably twice that age was rediculous. The Director should be shot!!
I haven't seen this but from the clips i've seen can tell it's rubbish,i'll stick with my copy of John & Yoko a love Story.
Once fore-warned, I thought I would give it a try anyhow. It wqs a mouth-gaping awful script. What a train-wreck of a drama! I know Lennon could be crabby and anti-social, and probably wasn't very respectful of Cynthia Lennon, but he was also very funny and wrote songs like "Across the Universe and "Julia" during this period of time. He was an artist in full bloom. All we got here was the anger and sarcasm.....And really I didn't know that Lennon was 47 years old in 1967, or so it appeared from the age of the actor playing him.
I watched it on PBS last night and was disappointed. I thought Christopher Eccleston did as good as a job protraying Lennon as anyone who is not actually Lennon could do. But I thought he made Lennon out to be too bitter, cynical and mean - it made the entire movie depressing to watch. It's not one I would buy.
To anyone who hasn't seen it, don't. The actor must be 50 years old and speaks in a nasally monotone as he portrays John as sullen, spiteful and angry. It is implausible to think that the miserable person depicted in the film could have brought joy to millions as John did.
I agree it isn't the "full story" as we all would have liked it, but for just under an hour, it seemed to well represent what side of Lennon you'd most likely have come up against had you had the fortunate opportunity to cross paths with him and somehow briefly get this close. I suppose if you enjoyed this movie you might also enjoy other recent movies depicting rock stars from the same time period such as "Stoned Alone" or "The Doors". Those movies have the same criticisms as many of you have about "Lennon Naked" yet I believe they serve a greater purpose. Portraying him like they did really made me feel a sadness for Julian Lennon and helps me to understand the song "Hey Jude" in a new and deeper way.
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