Andy Warhol, Susan Sontag, Studio 54,John LennonandYoko Ono.
Its a period that has been explored to death, with countless works on the scene across the city.
Is there really anything fresh or engaging to be said about that time or its main protagonists?
One To One: John & YokoVenice Film Festival.
TheVenice Film Festivalruns until September 7.
DEADLINE: This film was announced a few years back.
But where did the idea come from to focus on this one concert John and Yoko gave?
John Lennon and Yoko Ono at the One-to-One Concert.Sahm Doherty/ABC via Getty Images
They have the Lennon catalog and own the rights to the One To One concert.
Sean Lennon and various other people had been trying to rescue the sound of the concert.
The sound had been so badly recorded by Phil Spector.
He was probably completely drunk at the time.
The recording was really bad.
Thats why its not better known.
It came out once in 1986 on VHS but that was it.
Its the quote that starts the film.
And then as soon as John pushes him, he says its a great idea.
Thats every artist-manager relationship that ever existed.
Those calls were a real treat to find.
They werent one of the first things I heard.
I was given this drive with all the Lennon home movies and interviews.
All the stuff the estate had.
It was just an amazing gold mine of unseen things.
All shards, none of them complete.
They dont tell the story, but there were moments.
He said weve just found this box of audiotapes.
Apparently, for a while, Yoko wanted to record all their phone calls.
The estate hadnt even listened to them.
DEADLINE: Where does the estate keep all of these things?
You meet a lot of visual artists now who keep everything archived in boxes with tissue paper.
She already had that kind of attitude.
So she kept a lot of stuff.
I dont think John was necessarily a collective person, but she was.
So things like the bed they had in New York are still there.
That was where the idea came from to rebuild the apartment where they were watching television.
So the guy let me in there and I filmed them destroying where their bedroom had been.
That was originally the end of the film.
DEADLINE: Wow, do you think youll ever release that footage?
MACDONALD:Im sure well put it out somewhere.
DEADLINE: The thing Ive always admired about The Beatles and John is how avant garde they really were.
And this film really taps into that energy.
MACDONALD:Yeah, they were.
People also give Yoko such a hard time, but I think she was truly avant garde.
She really was a member of the New York art scene.
DEADLINE: Ive always thought John was erratic in his beliefsat this time in his life.
He was still quite immature and trying to figure out who he was and what he believed in.
Thats why he latches on to so many things.
And thats pretty clear in this film.
MACDONALD:I think thats right.
Its amazing to think he was 31/32 when the film begins.
The film covers 18 months from when they moved into Bank Street until they moved into the Dakota.
Its a story about how this concert came to be and this little-known period of their lives.
I think you also see someone who is almost in trauma from the experience of The Beatles.
Hes running away from that and trying to figure out who he is.
Nobody else had done what The Beatles achieved except for Elvis, whod made a total mess of it.
And there was so much unpleasantness, particularly around Yoko in Britain.
A lot of that was racism.
The way she was treated in Britain was pretty appalling.
And, in some ways, mirrors the U.S. and UK today.
MACDONALD:Thats true.
Instead of people protesting about Gaza on the campus, theyre protesting about the Vietnam War.
Its America today, still unable to come to terms with its racial issues.
I couldnt believe it then when Trump was also shot.
We always think were the first generation to worry about the environment.
DEADLINE: One omission from the doc I thought was interesting is Paul McCartney.
Around that time, he and John were going back and forth with diss tracks, right?
MACDONALD:Theres no real omission in the sense that I wanted to leave things out.
The approach for this film was to use whatever existed.
I hope the film can reach a wide audience and I hope people connect to it.
But Im aware that its a structurally unusual film.
So I dont know what the wider audience will think.
But I do believe its entertaining and engaging because John and Yoko are very entertaining and engaging.
DEADLINE: You made this doc with Plan B.
What is it like working with those guys?
MACDONALD:Ive known Jeremy and Dede for 20 years.
Thats obviously partly because of Brad who has enabled that ethos and supported the work.
DEADLINE: Youve had quite a diverse and unique career compared to most British directors.
Why do you think youve managed to work so freely for so long?
MACDONALD:Im very flexible and curious.
TakeThe Mauritanian, for example.
Im not sure that many other filmmakers want to enter into that terrain.
Im not really a personal filmmaker in that way.
Im just very curious about the world and how I want to make lots of different kinds of films.
