"A Hard Day's Night" (1964)

Below: the fab four on the run from screaming tweens in "A Hard Day's Night" (1964)

Good ole' bewildered Paul.

In 1964, at the height of Beatlemania, Richard Lester directs the fab four in their first feature film, "A Hard Day's Night", and what a charmingly clumsy, entertaining, and musically satisfying romp it is. I had seen a decent chunk of the picture nearly ten years ago at my buddy's band's studio, and viewing it a second time confirmed all the delightful, ahead of its time aspects that I had originally picked up.

The second time around, being even more familiar with the Beatle's history and their work, I was initially pleasantly surprised and impressed with their acting ability. Granted, they were just being themselves, but trust me, when you're put on the spot, surrounded by crew and under harsh studio lights, and the director yells, "Action!", even that isn't as easy as one might think. I don't know if others feel the same (as they probably dug Lennon's droll, deadpan Brit wit), but I felt the star of the show was Mr. McCartney. His boyish, goofy charm and overall energy and charisma was a joy to watch, and I was very impressed. Not a lot of members of a band that become the biggest in the world can pull that off on the big screen. These guys were truly special, no doubt.

In regards to the film being ahead of its time, just compare "Hard Days" to just about any other picture that had been released in '64. By and large, other films of the time just weren't shot in quite the same way, and the overall "speed" of the picture in general is more akin to what we're accustomed to today. Three major filmmaking aspects: cinematography, lighting, and editing, are what made the film really standout and take it just slightly ahead of the curve at the time. The pacing, rate of succession of shots, artful camera angles, use of the zoom, are all examples of why. I also noticed a couple scenes where a helicam was used. I believe that that and the zoom are facets of the art that haven't been commonplace until the end of the decade, into the seventies. The first quarter of the picture, which takes place on a train, gives you a sense of claustrophobia, with the quarters being tight and the shots just as so, with many closeups (you don't see that many a succession of closeups in an early 60's film) and canted angles. Other techniques I picked up were scenes that were undercranked (for fast motion) and overcranked (for slow motion). The musical numbers in the film are definitely a precursor to what we have known since the early 80's: the music video. The intercutting of the band members playing (replete with extreme closeups) to gyrating girls and starstruck fans dancing excitedly are the rudimentary aspects of a music video. I was pleased with not only the quality of these early Beatle's songs, but of the sound quality during these scenes in general.

"Hard Days Night" would not only more than please Beatles fans, but of any fan of film and music in general. It set the stage for the customary music videos to come, and even the now all familiar "rockumentary". The picture has a joyously chaotic and relentless energy to it, with a wit and sharp humor that felt fresh to me even today. "Hard Days" doesn't feel dated, despite its subject matter from a dated era and with it obviously being over forty years old. I dug the clever, humorous writing, the amiable charisma of the band members, and its capturing of that epochal time, at the peak of Beatlemania. I certainly recommend.