The U.S. vs. John Lennon
rating: 7/10
The U.S. vs. John Lennon is a documentary that takes a look at Lennon’s contributions to the peace movement during the Vietnam War and investigates the government interference that led to Lennon being wiretapped, followed, and threatened with deportation notices. It is, in many ways, a story told through the eyes of Yoko Ono but several others are interviewed, such as former Nixon administration officials, Lennon’s immigration lawyer, Gore Vidal, and Noam Chomsky amongst others. Perhaps the oddest fit is Geraldo Rivera’s segments. The now turned right winger discusses how it was wrong for the government to wiretap Lennon’s phones without seemingly any awareness of the recent NSA wiretapping of the American public.
One strength of this film is in it’s depiction of Lennon as a thoughtful dreamer, one who may have had ideas that were thought of as silly by some of the public and news media but who was trying to do the best he could to end a situation he felt was an atrocity. In a relatively early interview, when John is sitting with the Beatles and they are asked if they think it’s odd when in America journalists ask about Vietnam, Lennon speaks up and tells the journalist that you can’t just keep quiet about things happening in the world unless you are a monk.
One small weakness of the film is that, although it traces back to Lennon’s childhood, it’s mainly a very cursory comment about Lennon always being a bit of a troublemaker while growing up. It doesn’t explore what his childhood was like or how his first wife was different from Yoko, for example, which prevents us from experiencing a fuller sense of Lennon coming into his own intellectually. Of course, the comment often taken out of context in which Lennon talked about being more popular than Jesus is covered as well as his life with Yoko, the birth of his son, and the shooting that ended his life. To experience some of these moments and examine Lennon through a certain lens of photographs and interviews is somewhat mesmerizing.
An even larger weakness of the film is the lack of connection between the issues Lennon was confronting in terms of the Nixon adminstration and foreign policy and the very similar issues that have resurfaced today with the Bush administration. The only person interviewed that even connects the two is Gore Vidal, who mentions that Bush, like Nixon, symbolizes death. The others, for the most part, appear oblivious to the idea that there is the same kind of corrpution and likewise need for change and peace.
Overall, however, the film is inspiring in its exploration of how Lennon decided to take a stand for peace. It covers many attempts at different protest ideas. For example, it shows how early on Lennon invited journalists in for what they thought was their chance in a lifetime (to take pictures of him and Yoko in bed) only to find he was just getting his message of peace across. But it also talks about Lennon singing songs and actually marching at protests, which left one feeling as if there’s a real vacancy in terms of that today. I’m always encouraged when bands express themselves politically as well as by the organization Music For America. But, there aren’t too many bands with political messages that take to the protests. Think of how many more people might go down to Federal Plaza if Modest Mouse was protesting war or Death Cab for Cutie. Think how many people would march if Wayne Coyne was leading the way.
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