Released amidst announcements and rumours about further Beatles projects, and in the wake of countless documentaries covering both the Beatles and the eponymous couple, One to One competes with reservations that there could not possibly be anything further to learn about John Lennon, yet it reworks previously seen footage and intersperses new material, exceeding expectations.
Centred around a reconstruction of John and Yoko’s apartment, the film is stylised through the frame of the TV at the foot of their bed, flicking through various news channels, advertisements for Tupperware and cars, and footage from the One to One concert. Lennon’s fascination with American television, available 24 hours a day, much more advanced than Britain’s three channels, fashioned the documentary. Initial scenes are of horrified reporters at the Attica Prison uprising, Jerry Rubin joining Lennon and Oko on a late-night show and shifting the conversation to social activism, and Lennon calling for an end to the Vietnam war on stage at One to One; instantaneously, the film juxtaposes the American Dream and consumerism with protest, war, and advocacy. This contrast continues throughout the film, illustrating the urgency of these issues but also the lack of attention paid to them in mainstream media at the time.
The film’s story is that the voices of a former Beatle and a multimedia artist propelled social issues to the public’s consciousness as they attended protests and platformed voices.
The film deviates from TV footage only to phone calls between various figures, with striking captions: a recurring bit about an assistant finding flies for an Ono exhibition, Lennon explaining he’s taping his phone as he thinks he’s being listened to, and various organisations, agents, and friends reaching out to the couple. This intimate look into the couple’s minds and conversations humanises them, pulling them from the pedestal they have been thrust upon by modern audiences who almost mythologise them. This works in tandem with the footage exposing the personal difficulties the couple faced while in the spotlight: the threat of deportation Lennon lived with, racist and misogynistic threats of violence directed at Ono, and the couple’s fight to be reunited with Kyoko Ono, Yoko’s daughter who was taken and renamed by her father to be raised in a cult.
We see the couple attend the first International Feminist Conference, filmed by Ono, and she speaks about her life as John Lennon’s wife - in some ways, his name and influence protected her, but in others, her relationship with him has been a detriment to her life. Her performance of Looking Over from My Hotel Window is an unapologetic condemnation of her treatment by Beatles fans and the press. Here, the documentary levels its strongest critique against the prevailing narrative of Ono and Lennon’s relationship, and its acceptance of cruel rumours as fact.
The film’s story is that the voices of a former Beatle and a multimedia artist propelled social issues to the public’s consciousness as they attended protests and platformed voices. One to One shows John and Yoko becoming involved in just about everything brought to their attention, in rapid succession. An argument could be made that the fast-paced, impatient lack of lingering focus on each issue reflects the volatility of New York’s political scene, however, the frantic jump from issue to issue truly mirrors the couple’s tendency to get involved with a vast range of social issues, which they threw themselves into before quickly being distracted by something else. In one instance, Lennon receives a call from the Association from Irish Freedom, the first and only time they are mentioned, then is all-consumed by the later-cancelled Freedom Tour. Yet the film does not criticise this, instead upholding that Lennon and Ono, in their commitment to non-violence, discussion, and peace, were activists who stayed on the right side of history.
There is, however, extended focus on the Willowbrook State School scandal; an investigative reporter uncovered that thousands of children with intellectual disabilities were neglected and abused at the school, living in deplorable conditions. This moved Lennon and Oko to host the One to One concert itself, benefitting the children. The film ends with Give Peace a Chance, live from One to One, before cutting to footage of John and Yoko with a baby Sean, consciously avoiding sensationalising Lennon’s death, and highlighting Kyoko’s reunion with her mother and brother.
The film is hopeful, reminiscing on a couple who felt a strong sense of social responsibility and seemed to do all they could to help others. It is somehow original and personal, despite being released in a Beatles-oversaturated market, painting a vivid picture of this period in Ono and Lennon’s lives, and has a clear message, though it is a highly optimistic depiction by comparison to others.
4/5