“A Hard Day’s Night”
has ultra-young Beatles Lennon, McCartney, Starr, and Harrison lampooning their
own skyrocketing stardom in a “documentary” film that pops as if it were made
yesterday. Not 40 years ago. It’s f’n brilliant, with whole chunks that must
have bypassed ignorant censors of the day. “No, we’re just really good
friends,” Starr insisting to multiple reporters, is a highlight. The question
is never heard. It’s a celebration and satire of Beatlemania, never
critical of the screaming fans, with Richard Lester’s camera following the guys
as they trot around London doing all sorts of light mayhem. These guys loved
each other and their fans, and the camera loves them. They are also truly
funny, enjoying a joke or sight gag, at their own expense the better. When Lester
films through camera viewfinders and monitors, capturing the Beatles in screen
on screen, it seems the birth of all meta-humor and (relevant) MTV. Forty and
it pops like new. Who else could do this but the Beatles? Lennon’s
hallway banter. Harrison’s job interview. Ringo’s arrest. Paul’s grandpop. Unparalleled fun. A
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