Your enjoyment on documentaries about artists often depend on how much you like the artists. If you're a huge fan of John Lennon you're gonna love the insight this doc brings into the making of Imagine, if you don't like either John or Yoko you'll find more reasons to hate them. I'm a bit indifferent and thought it was quite informative and enjoyed it for the insight into the mind of one of music's biggest influences.

The documentary 'John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky' can be considered as a post-trauma movie. The Beatles fans who are today at or near retirement age were experiencing a traumatic period 50 years ago. The internal conflicts between the members of the group had become more and more visible - in the absence of their public appearances, in the photographs and the filmed sequences in which they seemed more and more distant and extinguished from each other, in the independent creative initiatives of each one, and especially in the music of their latest albums. The inevitable news of the break-up would be made public only in April 1970. Then, and from then until now, fans have split into two camps: those who believe that the main blame belongs to Paul and those who throw the guilt on John and especially on the influence of Yoko Ono . The film made by Michael Epstein does not elucidate this dispute which I think will continue in eternity, but brings solid and documented arguments for Yoko's historical and artistic rehabilitation.

Separation was probably inevitable. Each of the four had his own strong and original personality. And yet, after their break-up, their individual careers failed to create, separately or put together, almost anything that came close to what they had created together in the seven years during which they had revolutionized music history. One of the few exceptions is the song 'Imagine' from the album of the same name, released by John in 1971, a manifest song for a whole generation, divinely inspired in its music, words and message, since then on the first places in all the tops of 20th century songs. The film is largely based on the material filmed (in huge quantities) during the making of the album and on the much publicized aspects of John and Yoko's life in the years before and immediately after the Beatles split. Added to these are interviews filmed with Yoko, Julian (John's son from the first marriage),musicians, technicians, assistants, friends during that period. Almost all the arsenal we can expect from such a documentary is present here.

What I liked: Some of John and Yoko's private video footage was interesting and new, at least to me. Some of the studio scenes introduced the viewers to the process of creating the album and especially the song 'Imagine'. The image of Yoko Ono, as an artist, as a militant, and as a supporter of John's life and creation, is much more nuanced and interesting than the schematic and caricature portrait that exists in much of her public image. Each scene in which John appears makes us realize even more painfully and more acutely what a huge loss his murder represented. What I liked less: The 'talking heads' selection was obviously polarized, none of those who had differing opinions about the reasons for the Beatles' separation or Yoko's influence had any say in this film. Equally biased is the reflection of John and Yoko's political activity. Those who want to approach history (or the present) objectively know that the protest movements like the ones the two were associated with had a justification in the context of that time and a positive influence up to a certain point. But the truth about the Vietnam War, atomic disarmament, and other commendable causes was far more complex. It's the same phenomenon that we can find in fact today in the movement that claim to be anti-globalization, pro-ecological, etc. The film idealizes the policies of John and Yoko and allows neither a different opinion nor a more balanced analysis. Finally, as with any music documentary, I expected more ... music. Here the talk / music ratio is far too unbalanced to the detriment of music. 'John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky' offers a facet of John's life and activity, but manages to be just one piece of a much more complex puzzle.

For eight years, the Beatles rewrote the rules of popular music. After they split up, they were never to reach the same heights as individuals. Except, perhaps, for John Lennon's 'Imagine' album, his first record after the break-up. The album was recorded at his home studio, a process that was mostly recorded on film. That film, coupled with the obligatory sequence of talking heads, has now been recycled into this documentary. Why is it good? Well, because Lennon was (at his peak) brilliant, which makes the insight into how he made his music innately more interesting than the average film of this type. But it also makes a strong case for the (positive) influence that his wife Yoko Ono had on him, and suggests persuasively that the album was very much a product of their shared life, although once it was completed, they abandoned their English country home forever. It's a very human picture of a genius; there's (almost invetably) a measure of sycophancy to it, but it's still well worth watching.