Watch George Harrison: Living in the Material World For Free

So much average

Absolutely the worst movie.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

So yeah, this thing's really, really long. Definitely longer than it needs to be, but at the same time, it makes the film stand out, at least. Differentiates itself from the pack for me, I guess, given I've never personally watched a music documentary this long. George Harrison was always the most mysterious, spiritual of all The Beatles, so if a nearly 3 and a half hour documentary had to be made about one of them, that's a fairly good reason to, I suppose. About half of the film here will be very familiar to most Beatles fans, as the first half largely focuses on one of the biggest music phenomenons of all time. Thankfully, the extra focus on George Harrison during the film's first half means this familiar story does not feel entirely stale or redundant. The second half is less straight forward and more interesting too, I think, focusing on George Harrison's solo career and post-Beatles endeavors. However, it's also somewhat inconsistent. I found certain sections moving and engrossing, whilst feeling that some other sections dragged on longer than needed. One final minor complaint would be what I thought was some dodgy editing in parts. Often when they played a Beatles or George Harrison song, the music would cut off abruptly when it transitioned to an interview or someone talking about said song. I found it jarring every time this happened, and kept wondering whether it was some strange stylistic choice that I just wasn't getting. Anyway, if I'm sounding overly negative, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be, because this was still pretty good, and I've certainly experienced many other movies of a similar length that did feel longer than this. I guess it might be a little disappointing, considering this is one of the best directors of all time (Scorsese) making a documentary on a member of one of the greatest bands of all time. Still, it's good, all things considered. Certainly recommended, just maybe lower your expectations a tad, and definitely don't feel like you have to watch the whole thing in one go either.

I will always go out of my way to see the work of certain actors and directors – a select few, who, in my opinion, can do no wrong. I will always watch an Al Pacino or a De Niro film – even if it is a bad one, as by their very presence, they will somehow drag it out of the mundane and make it a pleasurable experience.One of my favourite directors is Martin Scorsese and to me, he can do no wrong, ever since I saw Taxi Driver all those years ago. Since then, he has followed up with masterpieces such as Goodfellas, Casino and Gangs of New York. Recently, his production and directorial contributions to the TV series, Boardwalk Empire has elevated it to the echelons of all time TV greats, such as The Sopranos. Scorsese also has also directed a number of notable documentaries through the years, almost always connected in some way to his love of music and music performers. His latest, about the life of the Beatle George Harrison, is a feast for the eyes.To Beatles fans, lovers of popular music, or just someone interested in the life and times of this fascinating and talented man, this documentary is a 'must see'. I sat down to watch it at around 10 p.m and sat transfixed, hardly realising that the clock was almost at the hour of 2 a.m by the time the final credits rolled down the screen – along with a few tears rolling down my cheeks… There is no narrator - no quoting of dates or facts - just a cinematic account of the life of George, from his earliest days in the Beatles right up to the day of his death from cancer in 2001. The story is 'told' through mainly previously unseen footage and magical interviews with so many friends and family who knew him and lived through the same life and times as he did. I have a new respect for Paul and Ringo who clearly gave very honest, heartfelt and sometimes surprisingly vulnerable accounts of themselves and their relationships with George and their times with him – both good and bad. There many others; Eric Clapton, John Lennon, both of George's wives, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Tom Petty, Phil Spector, Yoko Ono, Jackie Stewart and so many more. Some of these people were interviewed especially for the film and other interviews were taken from archive footage, much of it never seen before. At the top of the list of interviewees is George himself, speaking from his very early Beatle days, almost up to the time of his death. George was a fascinating man who lived a very full life, from his music, to his film production, to his love of cars, to garden design and to his almost fanatical involvement in Indian mysticism and trans-meditation. Through the years, this quiet but highly charismatic person acquired an incredible array of devoted friends from all walks of life. I particularly loved the videos of the impromptu sessions shot at Bob Dylan's home recording studio in New York when members of the 'Travelling Wilburys', (George, Tom petty, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison), collaborated on a new song. It is pure magic. But there again, there are so many magical moments. This wonderful documentary is a film not to be missed.

George Harrison: Living in the Material World isn't only the mandatory material for anyone into The Beatles. It tells the story of the "silent Beatle" and might be interested to anyone that passionately listened to music. Although it focuses on what would today be called pop and rock, this documentary also tells a story about a time that has passed and is to some not too distant.Yet, the most beautiful thing is in the movie is George Harrison himself. Seemingly unchanged by fame, he impressed me with his down-to-earth attitude. As if he never lost touch with reality, the material world, as the title suggests.Apart from the regular interviews with people who claim how profoundly George Harrison influenced their lives, there are a lot of anecdotes and small moments. These moments i enjoyed the most.

It's a little hard to watch this if you've lived through the period when the Beatles were churning out one astonishingly well-done album after another because, after all, two of the four are dead now, and the remaining two are old. I expect it's difficult for younger fans of pop music to understand what a revolution the Beatles were part of. Only a few years after Lennon's death, I heard a youngster in a shop exclaim, "Oh, look, Paul McCartney was in a band BEFORE "Wings." Directed by Martin Scorsese, it's a four-hour long documentary with nothing more than talking heads (including McCartney and Star) and newsreel footage and video clips of the group itself. It's aimed at adults mainly, so there is no narration telling us in chronological detail of the rise and ultimate disintegration of the bad. Pete Best's name is mention, but only in passing, and only once, so you either know who he was or you skip it. The names of albums hardly crop up.The central figure, of course, is George Harrison, the third in line, in almost all respects. He was quiet rather than outrageous, and not a goofy clown like Ringo. He was hired because he was a good man on the guitar, the best of the three, and could write songs too. ("Because", for instance.) Someone slipped him LSD as a joke and it appears to have turned Harrison eastward. He became spiritual in the broadest since, learned to play a modest sitar under Pandit Ravi Shankar, and introduced a strain of mysticism into some of the albums ("Within You and Without You").It's not a gossipy fan-magazine story. You'll never find out here who was responsible for the jaw-dropping combing of the Beatles' long hair from backwards to forward. Instead, you'll get a feel for what it was like to perform for peanuts in the Kaiser Keller in Hamburg on the roughest street in town.I didn't think I'd be able to watch it because I try not to think about the Beatles too much these days. It reminds me of happier times, when there was splendor in their costumes and fun in their irreverent wisecracks. It's painful to put any effort into researching time lost. But I was caught up in this. The interviewees include just about everyone who has anything of importance to say, and what they say isn't just interesting but deserves to be part of the historical record, the chronicle of a moment in the evolution of vernacular culture that we're going to have to wait a while before we see again.