Review: 'Lennon Naked' on BBC Four

By Ian Cullen Jun 25, 2010, 6:59 GMT

Lennon Naked, courtesy of the BBC

Synopsis: This drama focuses on the turbulent and intense period of John Lennon’s life as he was reunited with his estranged father and first met Yoko Ono.

Imagine there’s no people. It's easy if you try.

Yes, I know. Quoting a line from one of Lennon’s songs is a bit of a cop out when starting a review, but having seen this movie, it sort of gives a little bit of insight into where that lyric may have come from.

"Lennon Naked," which starred Christopher Eccleston in the title role wasn’t exactly a magical mystery tour, and it wasn’t fun nor meant to be. Though there were a few funny moments.

What the film was is really an examination of John Lennon and what we can surmise were his thoughts and feelings toward the world, which he felt alienated from.

The film is an examination of the singer songwriters abandonment issues, and how those issues effected his relationships with other people, and his relationship or lack thereof with his son Julian.

As stated at the beginning of the film. Much of it is taken from interviews and private recordings made by Lennon and those who were close to him, but as ever a degree of artistic license is used to fill in the blanks.

Those who were expecting a happy go lucky examination of Lennon and his life after The Beatles would have been disappointed in this film, if that was what they were after.

In truth it's a stark bollock naked examination of Lennon and his on-off relationship with his father who left him at age six with a mother who was more interested in her new boyfriend than in bringing him up. Which led to him being brought up by his Aunt.

The story starts in 1964 where you see a black and white sequence of late Beatles manager Brian Epstein escorting Lennon by Taxi to his first meeting with his dad in 17 years. A first meeting that wasn’t really all that eventful or candid.

Ten minutes in and the movie switches to colour and focuses on John's life after the death of Epstein, who seems to have been played as somewhat of a father figure to John.

Because it was after Epstein and his influence that the Beatles seemed to slide into what was arguably their most creative period, which was for most part drug-induced and ultimately moved toward the band splitting up. Though many would probably still land the blame on Yoko Ono. I feel it was a combination of numerous things.

To me the film played those events as more John wading through the forest of emotional confusion created by his addictions to drugs and his issues with a sense of abandonment by his father and mother. Issues, which in the 60's and 70's, were never really addressed by overpaid shrinks or head doctors, but were seen more as taboo.

The scenes with Yoko Ono were all handled well, and though I felt Naoko Mori was far to pretty to play the role, even with hair messed up and very little make up. She put in what I felt was a truthful performance based on what we all know of Yoko. Especially in those early years of the late 60's and early 70's.

In the final analysis the who piece pretty much centred on Christopher Eccleston and his performance as John Lennon, and he does put in a solid performance and leads from the start. Though admittedly. It was a little weird seeing him in a mop top at the very beginning of the film, and I hate to say almost a 'Doctor Who' moment.

If your looking for a shallow entertaining portrayal of the former Beatles front man, this isn’t it.  If you looking for an honest examination of John Lennon the man. Then this is probably as close as a dramatization can get.

What you have here is literally what it says on the tin.  A naked portrayal of Lennon, which is more about the man than it is about the performer. Though how much of it was truthful to who John Lennon really was is open to interpretation, because only those who knew him would understand the complexities of who he was in the warts-and-all kind of way that this film tries to portray it.

‘Lennon Naked’ aired Wednesday night on BBC Four as part of their Father’s Season of programing, which explores the topic of fatherhood and how it has changed over the past 100 years.

Monsters and Critics' contributing writer Ian Cullen is a former actor and community artist, and a lifetime fan of Science Fiction and television. He runs www.scifipulse.net  - a site, which follows the trends of science fiction television and movies.  He lives in Manchester, England.