A new documentary film directed by Ron Howards will show fans around the world the story behind The Beatles’ tours. The film called “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years” will reveal in 137 minutes the story people don’t know about the known band, as the tagline of the film states.
In the film, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison are captured in the most active years of tours, and people all over the world will be able to see what was like the life of the Fab Four between 1962 and 1966.
The film is a product of the American actor, producer, and filmmaker, Ron Howard, who won two Academy Awards in 2001 with “A beautiful mind,” but was nominated for several other awards with other films.
He was the the mind behind major films such as Apollo 13, Frost/Nixon, The DaVinci Code, and the favorite TV Show, Happy Days. He was featured in Vanity Fair in the Hollywood Top 40 in 2011.
Born in Oklahoma, he decided to dedicate to the filmmaking industry while Clint Howard, his younger brother decided to develop an acting-only career. Ron studied at the University of California but never graduated. This did not stop him from developing a successful career in Hollywood, where he produced or participated in more than 20 films.
The making of
Howard decided to prepare this new Beatles’ film to offer to the youngest generations the opportunity to discover a personal insight into the band while they performed in 15 countries and almost 90 cities, right at the peak of the Beatlemania. After a deep research and the selection of hours of footage, including existing material and non-released content, the film shows a timeline of the experiences lived in those four years in the 60s decade.
This is the first documentary authorized by the band since 1970. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the two surviving members of the Beatles, are part of the film with added commented scenes and interventions. The film also includes the interventions of different personalities in the music industry who provide an insight opinion about their own
experience with the Beatlemania during this four-year period.
The soundtrack of the production includes, of course, major Beatles’ hits but also some other major songs from pop and rock bands that were relevant at the moment.
The touring years
Between 1962 and 1966, the Beatles raised a euphoria in crowds almost unknown by any other band at the time. The screaming fans, fainting fits and incredibly large crowds following the group’s steps -along with the police department’s concerns in several cities- were a major part of the experience, and the film shows that.
The excitement raised by the Beatles is what this documentary aims to capture. But also, Howard had the mission to portrait as honest as possible the internal conflict of the band when faced towards such a critical state of fame. Their decision-making process in the touring years is also portrayed in the film, where the public will be able to
see how the Fab Four decided to stop touring at the moment.
The period that followed the touring years were incredibly successful for the band regarding musical and creative production. They took advantage of the sudden end of the touring era to create more and more material in a different environment, now away from the crowds and only devoted to the creation and production of their art.
The trajectory between their presentations in small clubs in Liverpool to the series of concerts in Europe, Australia, and the U.S. represented a significant step or part of the Beatle’s life as a band and as a symbol, and the documentary aims to show that. This process is what makes the film the visual tale of an unknown side of the band we all know, even when Beatle’s fans already know much of the footage contained in the documentary.
The secret bonus
A unique feature of the film is the 30 minutes footage from the concert at Shea Stadium in New York, a concert that made history in 1965. The amount of details discovered in the film releases a whole new version of Beatles’ secret history, including musical influences, their technique to write songs and their feelings about the filmmaking
of their career and fame.
The incredible schedule the Beatles’ lived in the youring years revealed in a documentary represents a major breakthru to “the Beatle’s science.”
Source: CBS