Review of “The Beatles: Let It Be”: the Beatles as in time…

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr meet at Twickenham Studios in London. And their rehearsal sessions end with the now cult impromptu concert on the roof of Apple Corp. studios.

“Let It Be is the father of Get Back“, said Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the director of Let It Be during a conversation with Peter Jackson. Why Peter Jackson? Because the filmmaker of The Lord of the Rings had, in 2021, presented The Beatles: Get Backa documentary series of three episodes lasting seven hours and broadcast on Disney +.

This time it’s the documentary The Beatles: Let It Be which is the subject of a reissue by Disney Studios. Awarded an Oscar for the soundtrack (Quincy Jones accepted the statuette on behalf of the Fab Four), Let It Be – released in 1970 – had remained in the studio vaults since 1981, when it was released on VHS, Betamax and LaserDisc (and yes, that’s a date!), with rumors that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr opposed its reissue.

But that is now a thing of the past. Considerably “cleaned” of all the imperfections of the period – including a transfer in 4:3 format from the original 16 mm copy -, The Beatles: Let It Be benefited from the same technological treatment as Get BackPark Road Post Production, Peter Jackson’s firm, taking care of everything.

“We developed an artificial intelligence program that we taught the sound of a guitar, percussion, etc. in order to be able to do everything unmix», Peter Jackson explained to us in 2021 during a videoconference meeting.

It is impossible to deny the historical value of this The Beatles: Let It Be which includes moments that are not included in Get Back. And we watch, moved, the conversations between George Harrison and Paul McCartney, the interactions with Billy Preston or the visit of Heather, Linda Eastman’s daughter later adopted by the Beatle, during the recording sessions.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Beatles: Let It Be has been available on the Disney+ platform since May 8.