ScreenWize

Sam Taylor-Wood, best known for her conceptual video art (including a famous work of David Beckham asleep) is probably not the obvious choice to make a film about the early days of John Lennon. Yet she has created a beautifully kind-hearted and cosy crowd-pleaser of how a young man with two mothers came to be one of the world’s greatest songwriters. In this her debut feature film, Taylor–Wood errs wisely on the traditional side of film style and tells the story with great care – if not a slightly patriotic sense of nostalgia.

Opening onto a decidedly cheery Liverpool in the late 1950’s, we meet a teenage John (Aaron Johnson) at school - clearly bright and mostly bored. At home he lives with his Aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott-Thomas) and Uncle George. It’s an unexceptional but loving household for the young man, even if Mimi’s affections come with behavioural conditions. She likes classical music and things in their proper place – especially emotions. But when John discovers his estranged mother Julia (Anne-Marie Duff) just around the corner, living there with a new husband and John’s half sister (who in real life wrote the memoir that the film draws on for much of its story) his life changes forever. Julia is the opposite of Mimi – erratic, affectionate and very much in touch with the new music of the day. She introduces John to Fats Domino and Elvis, buys him a guitar, and teaches him how to play. Smitten by both the new woman in his life and the music that comes with her, John decides to form a band, recruiting – amongst others - a young man called Paul McCartney (Thomas Sangster).

Whilst you will almost certainly know the big picture, screenwriter Matt Greenhaigh builds the story around the small and often very surprising details of Lennon’s relationships with his mother, aunt and song-writing partner – focusing on the young man’s bumpy journey into the world of adults (although there are some undistinguished flashbacks explaining just how Mimi came to be looking after the young John). Part love story, part coming of age tale, Taylor-Wood bathes all the characters in a warm glow and explores the beautiful awkwardness at work as John – drifting from boy to man – flirts with the most exciting person he has ever met – his mother.

Aaron Johnson captures the angst and arrogance of youth but it’s the two wonderful performances from Scott-Thomas and Marie-Duff that ultimately sustain the emotional power of this intimate tale.

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Filed Under: Reviews by Simon