LennoNYC

This film from Emmy Award–winning director Michael Epstein, originally presented on the PBS series American Masters, looks at the life of John Lennon after the breakup of the Beatles, including his love affair with New York City, where he and his wife Yoko Ono lived starting in 1971. Lennon found the American press less intrusive than the British paparazzi and New Yorkers more respectful of his privacy—the legendary pop star could walk down the streets of Manhattan like anyone else, often recognized but not mobbed—and he became passionately engaged in politics, which led the Nixon administration to try to have him deported. Epstein explores Lennon's 18-month separation from Yoko, spent mainly in Los Angeles, where he notoriously fell into drinking and carousing with buddies; his creative career (from Imagine to Double Fantasy); and his retirement to raise his and Yoko's son, Sean. More than any other filmed portrait of Lennon (and there are many), this modest but rich production successfully digs beneath the legend to find the man, the husband, and the father. Ono helps guide the story with remembrances of the couple's relationship (her discussion of their time apart is particularly poignant), while generous interviews with friends, colleagues, and musicians fill in the personal details, backed with a wealth of archival clips and outtakes from recording sessions that offer rare glimpses of Lennon at ease. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Axmaker)