Film: A Hard Day's Night
Director: Richard Lester
Country: UK
Released: July 1964
Runtime: 87 minutes
Genre: Musical
Studio: Proscenium Films
Influenced: The Monkees, John Hughes, Baz Luhrmann, Todd Haynes, Greta Gerwig
A Hard Day's Night was conceived in 1963, when the Beatles were at the height of their popularity following the release of several chart-topping singles and their debut studio album, Please Please Me (1963). The film's producer, Walter Shenson, wanted to make a movie that would capture the spirit of Beatlemania and the band's youthful energy and appeal. He hired director Richard Lester, who had previously worked on comedy films like It's Trad, Dad!, to pilot the project and together Shenson and Lester decided to make a film that was loosely based on the Beatles' own lives. The film follows the band as they travel to London to appear on a TV show. Along the way, they are chased by screaming fans and get into various hijinks – it's a wonderful testament to the power of music and the joy of youth.
It is also a coming-of-age story about four young men who are trying to find their place in the world. The film's screenplay was written by Welsh playwright Alun Owen, who had previously mostly worked in TV. Owen was known for his sharp wit and his ability to capture the inner lives of his characters. A Hard Day's Night was shot in just 21 days, on a budget of around just £200,000, and there's a feeling of the Nouvelle Vague in the breezy, carefree spirit in which it was filmed. It became an instant and huge success, both critically and commercially, praised for its humour and its fresh take on the rock & roll musical. It also served to elevate the Beatles into international stardom.
One of my favourite scenes is the Beatles performing A Hard Day's Night on the roof of their hotel in London (a feat they would repeat on the rooftop of Apple Corps headquarters in 1969 at the end of their time together). Exhausted from a long day of filming, they decide to go up to the roof to get some fresh air and then start to sing and play their instruments. The music attracts the attention of the people below and soon there is a crowd of people gathered outside the hotel. Other great scenes also involve the Beatles performing their songs, including a rendition of I Should Have Known Better in a train station and She Loves You in the TV studio, full of energy and charisma.
A Hard Day's Night took a fresh and innovative approach to filmmaking, with its use of fast-paced editing and visual gags, and the film helped to break down the barriers between rock & roll and mainstream cinema. The film's success helped to pave the way for the music video, and many of the techniques that Lester used in A Hard Day's Night are now standard fare in music videos, especially the use of jump cuts and quick montages to create a sense of energy and excitement. On top of that, A Hard Day's Night is also widely considered to be one of the funniest and most enjoyable films ever made about the music business.
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