The Beatles: Get Back

(M) ★★★★★

Director: Peter Jackson.

Take 413 of Maxwell's Silver Hammer was going surprisingly well.

Believe it or not, some people don't like The Beatles.

I've met some of these strange creatures in the wild and have found them contrary and confusing. Obviously this three-part documentary series is not for them.

But it's also hard to recommend this near-eight-hour-long doco to people with only a passing interest in the Fab Four. There are moments in parts one and two that had me looking at my watch, and I'm obsessed with The Beatles. But they pay off, if you're dedicated.

Obsession and dedication are what is needed to watch all of Get Back. Peter Jackson has made this to be as complete as possible while still making something watchable, fully aware this is could be the last time in a long time someone will get to sift through the 60 hours of film and 150 hours of audio from the Let It Be sessions, as filmed in 1969 by Michael Lindsay-Hogg and his team.

With that once-in-a-lifetime shot in his hands, Jackson has ensured the series paints as complete a picture as possible, piling on the minutiae and fan service. For example, the mentions of manager Allen Klein are ominous, but offer no pay-off within the scope of the doco - it's only the die-hards who know where that goes - while the huge amounts of footage showing the band goofing their way through daft covers and silly jams that aren't album-worthy demonstrate where their heads are at musically, even though it often sounds terrible.

This completeness is both Get Back's biggest strength and weakness. It's fascinating and frustrating because for the first half, The Beatles are shit at rehearsing. The clock is ticking, but they dick around with half-arsed covers from their Hamburg days, or deliberately messing around with their own songs. No wonder George quit and Ringo looks bored out of his brain.  

But as infuriating as it is, it helps contextualise everything. By showing us so much, Jackson helps us understand everything better. George's departure makes more sense than it did in the original Let It Be doco, as does Paul's attitude, which is a mix of fearful indecision and reluctant leader. Yoko's presence is shown to be as benign as most intelligent people always thought it was, John's only as willing as his stonedness allows him to be, and Ringo is just Ringo. 

This excess of material also improves the pay-off of the rooftop concert. There's an incredible exultant joy that comes from watching their final gig after having seen them fumble their way through the previous few weeks. Seeing this historic moment in its entirety, from multiple angles simultaneously - including street level and the cops politely waiting in reception - is another example of Jackson giving us the full context, even though we see repeat performances of the same five songs.

Some favourite moments: the nonchalant way George quits, Paul's reaction to hearing Billy Preston jam with the band for the first time, Preston's incredible talents, seeing Get Back eke its way out of Paul's brain, the remembrances of India, the way they discuss Brian Epstein, Lindsay-Hogg's hilarious concert suggestions, and Paul's cheeky grin when the cops rock up at the rooftop gig.

Get Back is an exhaustive and occasionally exhausting look at The Greatest Band In The World that does something no other Beatles experience has ever done - it makes you feel like you're hanging out with the band. Unfiltered, honest and insightful, it sets the record straight and shows the Fab Four as just four very real humans who happened to make some incredible music together.