The Beatles movie that greatly influenced Steven Spielberg
In the 1960s, being a rock star was about something more than just playing an instrument. As opposed to the massive stars that get by off the strength of their tunes, artists like Elvis Presley also found themselves working on the big screen, creating movies that were far more disposable than what their music was supposed to be. Although The Beatles never claimed to enjoy making films, their willingness to experiment in the late 1960s saw them shifting their medium in more ways than one.
Even though the Fab Four had been introduced to the world with films like A Hard Day’s Night, the lovable characters played in the film were more of a facsimile of how they were in real life. Despite being taken from the energy of their press interviews, it didn’t take long before the band began to tire of the movie-making experience.
When it came time for them to make a follow-up film with Help!, John Lennon remembered every band member’s inability to get a handle on the script. Being deep into their experimentation with marijuana, most of the takes in the final film ended up being stitched together by different fragments that happened not to have any mistakes.
Not wanting to live the life of the lovable moptops anymore, the next phase of the band’s career would see them adopting different tones in the studio, creating incredible music on albums like Sgt Peppers. Although it seemed like everything was going to be perfect, the entire band were given the shock of a lifetime when their manager, Brian Epstein, was found dead.
Looking to steer the band through the harsh times, Paul McCartney had the idea of making an art film centred around a bus tour. Chronicling their travels in Magical Mystery Tour, the film was treated to miserable reviews as soon as it came out, with networks making the critical mistake of showing the film in black and white, completely erasing the charm of the pastel colours that permeate the screen.
Even though the band were given their first taste of failure, the cinema giants were still paying attention to what they had to say. Looking back on the film, McCartney remembered getting high praise from director Steven Spielberg about the film, remarking in Anthology, “People like Steven Spielberg have said since, ‘When I was in film school, that was a film we really took notice of.’ It was an art film rather than a proper film.”
Although certain pieces of the film drag throughout its runtime, it’s easy to see what the band were going for with the benefit of hindsight. Instead of the usual plot-driven storyline, The Beatles created a visual companion to their work, featuring breathtaking sequences of their psychedelic masterpieces like ‘The Fool on the Hill’ and ‘I Am The Walrus’.
The experience did sour the band on their next film project, which was to be a lavish animated movie centred around The Beatles. Rather than make the traditional soundtrack and star in the film, Yellow Submarine featured as few Beatles as possible, having other voice actors portray them in the film and only turning up towards the very end of the film to fulfil their contractual obligation.
The influence on Spielberg is also readily apparent, using different approaches to sound to his characters onscreen, making for an exquisite marriage between orchestral score and action. Although The Beatles may have been criticised for their moves at the time, Magical Mystery Tour only reaffirmed their mindset of music and visuals being used as one grand artistic statement.
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