John and Yoko: A Love Story

I absolutely love John Lennon and Yoko Ono. They were both truly remarkable singers, songwriters, musicians, artists, film-makers, poets, writers, and peace activists. Their work is eternal.

As they were such unique personalities, I thought that making a biopic telling their story would be next to impossible, and for that reason, I have put off watching this three hour long film for a very long time. I figured it would be cringe-worthy. Yet when I read that the film had been made in co-operation with Yoko Ono herself, I decided I would give it a chance. I’m really glad I did.

The acting is absolutely phenomenal. As they are such famous icons, writers and reporters often had a tendency to sensationalise everything they did. The subtleties in the acting of this film helps us understand the true personalities behind the myth. They were truly caring people who used their fame and fortune to good advantage by promoting love and peace.

Many cynics would call them naive, believing that “not everyone will be peaceful”, and that “without war, we’d be speaking German”… (I’ve heard these arguments time and time again!)
These people don’t realise that without peace, we’d all be dead. It wasn’t World War 2 that saved us all from the Nazis. The Nazis created the war. The only reason we are living today is because the British army helped put an END to the war, and created peace. And it is peace we have to cherish, and promote as much as possible.

One of the many reasons John Lennon was such a great songwriter is due to his honesty, and sincerity in his work. His songs cover a multitude of moods, and many of them are autobiographical. Therefore each song that was chosen to fit a particular scene worked extraordinarily well, and was particularly moving. As a fan of Yoko Ono, I am also pleased at the amount of times they included her songs as well. Yoko often gets overshadowed by John. Yet this film may convert some people to think differently about this wonderful artist.

Even with Yoko’s co-operation, the film doesn’t appear to be at all biased. She wasn’t the sole reason for The Beatles breaking up, but the film does show how frustrating her presence was in studio for the rest of the band. John and Yoko were clearly unaware of this at the time though, because they were so madly in love. I genuinely love this film, and I would happily watch it again and again.