John and Yoko's Year of Peace

Amazing that a nearly hour-long film about a Beatle that contains almost no music could still be worthwhile, but that's the case with John and Yoko's Year of Peace. The year in question is 1969, when the newly-married couple staged the notorious “bed-in” at a Toronto hotel to promote their somewhat naïve but sincere campaign for world peace; they then moved on to Montreal, where “Give Peace a Chance” was recorded in another hotel room, before returning to Toronto, where Lennon (accompanied by Eric Clapton and others) became the first Beatle to perform in concert without his mates. There's no film of that event, unfortunately, but there is a great deal of other Lennon footage, revealing him to be utterly honest, unpretentious, gentle and approachable. Ono and others who were there recall the events in interesting interviews conducted around the time of this 2000 documentary, but it's the scenes from '69 that make this invaluable Sure to be popular, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Graham)