The U.S. vs John Lennon

Directed by David Leaf and
John Scheinfeld

Ex-Beatle John Lennon doesn’t need an introduction. His band set the tone for rock’n’roll when they came to America in 1964 and the music world has never been the same since their invasion. But once John met Yoko Ono and The Beatles began to disband, Lennon took up the cause to try and end the war in
Vietnam and get America’s troops out. Why would someone from England care about American soldiers? Because Lennon loved America and believed in the things that the Flower Power generation was protesting. Unfortunately, the Nixon administration didn’t love John Lennon.

The documentary called The U.S. vs John Lennon is comprised of many interviews with members of the Black Panthers, radical activists, reporters, former FBI agents, Gordon Liddy, George McGovern, Geraldo Rivera and Yoko Ono. There are a lot of interviews and footage of Lennon during his Beatles years as well as his solo years. The documentary definitely leans more towards Lennon’s side of things and against the establishment that tried to bring him down (and was later brought down by Watergate), but it does show a relatively fair assessment of what Lennon was all about and how he scared the “higher-ups” in the U.S. as America was in turmoil with their own government for its involvement in a war that was a lost cause and detrimental to over 50,000 dead American soldiers and thousands of vets who fought bravely for an alien land.

Most of the footage is clear and clean considering its age and the formats that it was shot on. The audio is great and the music is pure Beatles/Lennon. Yoko sings some backgrounds here and there but there are no solo Ono songs. The documentary doesn’t reiterate how The Beatles came to be, but it does take the audience to the end of Lennon’s life. Fortunately, they don’t give any fame or glory to the assassin who ended Lennon’s life or talk about various conspiracy theories on how that said individual may have been brainwashed by our government to accomplish the deed. They don’t mention his name and neither will I.

If you’re a big fan of Lennon and have a variety of books or kept up with his life, then there is nothing new to be found here. Regardless, it’s still interesting to see some of the old footage. For those unaware or too young, this documentary should appeal to music fans as well as fans of American history and civics. Lennon was one of the best non-American voices America ever had.
 

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