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Critics praise George Harrison documentary at film festival premiere

Martin Scorsese's much-anticipated documentary "George Harrison: Living in the Material World" has been the subject of several articles in recent days with hints that it's more than just a glossy portrait. The film, being shown at the Telluride Film Festival, which runs through Monday, has been the subject of several stories the last few days.

Rolling Stone's current issue has one that looks more at George than the film. But the latest, from the Observer, reports the film says much about his two marriages and the stormy periods that occurred in both. It would seem from both of these that anyone expecting a glossy portrait of Harrison will be in for a surprise. The Observer says his widow, Olivia, admits in the film that their marriage went through "hiccups." The Harrisons worked through their problems, even surviving a brutal in-home attack years later that almost killed him. 

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Eric Clapton also discusses how his relationship with Harrison's first wife, Patti Boyd, grew after he became "more obsessed" with her. Others interviewed in the film include Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, record producer Phil Spector and Monty Python's Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam. 
 
The Hollywood Reporter has reviewed it and called it "epic." "Comparable to his 2005 'No Direction Home: Bob Dylan' in length, scope and comprehensiveness, 'George Harrison: Living in the Material World' proves nearly equally rewarding, even if its subject doesn't necessarily compel the same sort of automatic anticipatory excitement," wrote Todd McCarthy. The Boulder Daily Camera described it as, like Scorsese's other rock documentaries, having the "ability to captivate."
 
Given Harrison's adherence to privacy in his later years, the fact that "George Harrison: Living in the Material World" was able to be made at all is one of the main reasons it's so highly anticipated. As the Hollywood Reporter concluded in its review, "It's not a film one particularly expected to be made but it's a vastly welcome one." Quite an understatement.
 
The film premieres in the U.S. in October on HBO and will be released on DVD in Europe next month. 

, Beatles Examiner

Steve Marinucci's website, Abbeyrd's Beatles Page - http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net - is widely regarded as the most accurate Beatle news source on the internet. A former journalist for over 30 years at the San Jose Mercury News, he has interviewed celebrities including Yoko Ono, Bruce Johnston and...

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