Beatles ‘64 Film Review: Back In The USA

Beatles ‘64 is a refreshing look into The Beatles’ short-lived time on the road, dissecting their fame with first-hand accounts from their biggest fans.

And while the sensation is often draped in romance, with stories of young women chasing the Liverpool boys down on the streets and sneaking into their hotels for autographs, there’s always been something darker and fundamentally unsettling about the idea that people can become so obsessed with figures they’ve never met. How does this happen, and what does living life in awe of complete strangers do to people in the long run?

That’s the question at the heart of director David Tedeschi and producer Martin Scorsese’s latest documentary Beatles ‘64, which compiles huge amounts of archive footage from the Beatles’ first arrival in America and intersplices it with first-hand accounts from the fans who welcomed them into the country 60 years ago. The film includes conversations with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, alongside interviews with George Harrison and John Lennon from earlier in their careers, that help explain what this phenomenon looked like from their perspective. The singers discuss how their immense celebrity status formed their perceptions of themselves, how it affected their legacy, and most importantly, how there’s something fundamentally lost in translation with the term ‘Beatlemania’ that often ignores the darker side of fandom that ultimately caused them to stop touring altogether.

Undoubtedly the most entertaining part of Beatles ‘64 is the archived conversations between the musicians themselves, who could have talked about anything for two hours and the documentary still would’ve been a success. There’s something so simultaneously grand and intimate about hearing the mundane thoughts of the biggest celebrities in the world (at the time) as they’re camped out in their hotel rooms, waiting for the hordes of teenage girls outside to let them pass. It’s nothing revolutionary to say that Paul, John, George, and Ringo were some of the sharpest comedians in the music industry, but Beatles ‘64 really pushes home to what extent their celebrity was a result of their witty personalities, not just their timeless music.

As for the talking-heads style interviews, these first-hand accounts give an interesting new perspective of the other side of Beatlemania: the fans themselves. The singers have often talked about how overwhelming and distracting it was to be met with such zealousness merely for doing their job, but this documentary helps to explore what was going on inside these fans’ minds. It’s a very well-made film (Scorsese’s DNA is all over the project with his keen eye for brevity), and it’s intentionally paced with the perfect balance of educational moments and powerful musical montages.

There’s very little that can be said about the Beatles anymore that hasn’t been explored already, but Beatles ‘64 somehow manages to feel new all the same. It’s the striking balance between perspectives that really makes this approach work, switching constantly between the musicians’ own words and the stories of their fans, allowing the audience to build their own narratives from the best of both worlds. Especially after a work as monumental and all-encompassing as the Get Back documentary in 2021, it’s astounding that there’s still unexplored territory when it comes to the Beatles – but there is, and Beatles ‘64 finds it.

Beatles ‘64 is now available to watch on digital and on demand.