Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A documentary chronicling the Beatles' rehearsal sessions in January 1969 for their proposed "back to basics" album, "Get Back," later re-envisioned and released as "Let It Be."
Let It Be is a one-of-a-kind artifact: raw, unmediated fly-on-the-wall footage of the greatest rock band in history in the act of creation and slow dissolution. Its novelty is exceptional — no other document captures the creative process and interpersonal fracture of a legendary act with this kind of intimacy. The rooftop concert finale is one of the most iconic endings in documentary history, spontaneous and elegiac simultaneously. Cinematography is serviceable verité rather than artistically ambitious. As a documentary, 'acting' refers to the naturalism and presence of its subjects, which is compelling but uneven. The 'plot' is loose and meandering by design, with long stretches of tension and tedium that serve the film's thesis but make for an occasionally difficult watch.