Newsgroups: alt.cd-rom.reviews,rec.music.beatles Path: cdrom.com!barrnet.net!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!wupost!csus.edu!netcom.com!cherrys From: cherrys@netcom.com (Mikki Halpin) Subject: Re: CD-ROM "A Hard Days Night" Message-ID: Followup-To: alt.cd-rom.reviews,rec.music.beatles Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL1] References: <2raqth$cii@news.u.washington.edu> <2rb1a4$non@crl2.crl.com> <2s6m7f$ja3@crl2.crl.com> Date: Sun, 29 May 1994 23:56:47 GMT Lines: 40 Xref: cdrom.com alt.cd-rom.reviews:182 rec.music.beatles:97 Albert Zhou (skypatrl@crl.com) wrote: : Well forgive my ignorance. What is this movie about? AHDN was dreamed up by Universal Pictures as a way to sneak a Beatles album out, although the Beatles were signed to anothe record label--Universal could release the "soundtrack." The movie basically is a *madcap* day in the life of the Beatles as they make their way to a big show, and intercat with various agents, actresses, relatives, etc, on the way, and perform a series of numbers. It's pretty funny. Stylistically, director Richard Lester created a visual vocabulary that is still being used today (check out REM's "stand" video to see majo echoes of AHDN). Historically, the film was shot just after their appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in America, when the world was just realizing that the rock and roll revolution and the hegemony of the youth lifestyle would irrevocable change Western society, and the mmovie contains several instances of cultural/generational clashes, as well as a funny, mostly improvised press conference scene. If you watch the train station scene in the beginning where they dash to their limo and the girls mob them, that was actually just a regular event after each day's shoot, Lester simply let the cameras role and the real-life fans did the rest. Sorry to go on, but I spent a lot of time with this film. PS: if you meant "what is The RUnning Jumpin Standing Still FIlm" about, you'll have to buy the disc. It's too hard to explain and RIchard Lester does it much better. Mikki