Peter Jackson has discussed his new Beatles documentary film, admitting it’s ‘amazing to see how wrong’ a lot of accounts of some of the group’s history have been.
The Lord of the Rings filmmaker, 59, is at the helms of the three-part documetary The Beatles: Get It Back which follows the making of the band’s 1970 album Let It Be.
The documentary draws on material originally recorded for the 1970 film Let It Be by Michael Lindsay-Hogg which also charted the band’s recording of the album.
Film: Peter Jackson has discussed his new Beatles documentary film, admitting it’s ‘amazing to see how wrong’ a lot of accounts of some of the group’s history have been (pictured in 2019)
Peter’s film challenges assumptions that the making of the album was marked by ill-feeling between the group.
Speaking to GQ, Peter discussed an argument between Paul McCartney and George Harrison during the recording of the song Two of Us where Paul tells George, ‘I always hear myself annoying you’.
Discussing the moment, Peter said: ‘We’ve given people the context for the interaction by showing the full six-minute conversation. It no longer feels like an argument.
‘It no longer feels like Paul is getting on George’s nerves. You understand what Paul’s trying to achieve. You understand where George is coming from. And the whole thing actually makes sense.
Behind the scenes: Peter, 59, is at the helms of the three-part documetary The Beatles: Get It Back which follows the making of the band’s 1970 album Let It Be (L-R Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon pictured in 1967)
‘The thing is, when the film was released, The Beatles were breaking up, but they weren’t breaking up when they were making Let It Be, which was recorded a year earlier.
‘So I suppose it would have been odd to release a film where they are all enjoying each other’s company.’
Peter also discussed the film’s arduous editing process, saying it took him and the crew two years to piece it all together.
He said: ‘We’ve been editing this series for about two years now and it’s the longest editing I’ve ever done in my career. I mean, you normally edit a movie, like a Lord Of The Rings type, in about three or four months, but this has been two years. It’s a very complicated thing to cut.’
Recording: The documentary draws on material originally recorded for the 1970 film Let It Be by Michael Lindsay-Hogg which also charted the band’s recording of the album (L-R Paul, John and George pictured in 1969)
Peter also spoke about the misconception that John and Paul were no longer writing songs together during the filming
He said: ‘I read books that say that in this period John and Paul no longer wrote songs with each other, but that’s not true, as we’ve got many scenes where John and Paul are sitting writing songs.
‘I mean, it’s on film, it’s on camera. So it’s really amazing to see how wrong a lot of these accounts have been.’
The director thinks people will be surprised by the film for two reasons.
He said: ‘One, it’ll be far more intimate than they imagined it to be, because everyone is used to seeing music documentaries being a bit kind of MTV-ish, sort of together in a poppy kind of way and it’s just the music, music, music, you know?
Documentary: Peter’s film challenges assumptions that the making of the album was marked by ill-feeling between the group (From top left: George, Ringo, John and Paul in 1968)
Process: Peter also discussed the film’s arduous editing process, saying it took him and the crew two years to piece it all together
‘The music isn’t at the forefront of this film: weirdly, it’s what goes on behind the music at the forefront.’
‘And the other thing that I think will surprise people is how funny the films are, which, considering the reputation of this footage and the Let It Be movie, you don’t associate with January 1969, but they’re very funny films.’
The Beatles: Get Back debuts on Disney+ consecutively on 25, 26 and 27 November.
Read the full interview in the August issue of British GQ available via digital download and on newsstands now. https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/the-beatles-get-back-peter-jackson-interview.
Interview: Read the full interview in the August issue of British GQ available via digital download and on newsstands now