The director of “Lord of the Rings” has immersed himself in the archives of the group shot during the recording sessions of “Let it Be” to make an exceptional documentary. He talks to us about it exclusively.
Paris Match. Four years with the Beatles archives is not for everyone …
Peter Jackson. And it was pretty fantastic spending hours in the editing room with The Beatles when others were confined to their homes. They made me laugh, they made me happy in a difficult time. I will always see this health crisis as the time in my life when The Beatles occupied my mind. However, initially I was quite worried. I was worried that I would find out that people I have admired for so long are actually unlikeable types. And, luckily, it didn’t. Quite the contrary. The Beatles are four really good guys.
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The Beatles didn’t know if they were being filmed
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What equipment did you originally have?
In January 1969, The Beatles said yes to a show to play new songs on it. And this TV show was to be accompanied by a thirty minute film. Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg has therefore installed two cameras at the Twickenham studio, on the outskirts of London, where the Beatles rehearse. But the project will take another direction, the TV show will be abandoned and it will become a film, “Let it Be”, released in 1970. Apple, the company which manages the rights of the Beatles, had therefore in its drawers a hundred and thirty hours of rushes shot in 16 mm. All of this was digitized and sent to me so that I could edit these images in order to make a documentary on a film being made. The same goes for the sound: all the conversations recorded by the two Nagas who were in the room were digitized by Apple. But the synchronization of images and sound had not been done. In 1969, they didn’t have the systems we have today. It was therefore necessary to find the sound corresponding to the images.
What was your first reaction when you watched the rushes?
I was surprised at how it was all done, with little money, like a low budget movie. And besides, the Beatles talked about it at one point: “If we had known that we were making a real film… We should have done it in 35mm.” Michael Lindsay-Hogg was clever in his way, he had hidden the red button of the cameras indicating that they were running. The Beatles didn’t know if they were being filmed. Sometimes they speak freely, thinking they are cut off. While not…
Find the full interview in number 3786 of Paris Match.
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