Imagine

When a poor boy who can do nothing else but play in a rock and roll band dies, we the public get treated to more golden tributes than all the barbiturates he ever took. This documentary uses acres of footage shot on Lennon's orders, and documents the one time in the '70s when he was not continually nodding out. The 1971 recording session in the Lennon's country mansion which produced 'Imagine' is the core; the whole of the narration is taken from Lennon interviews, tracing his life in his own words. The result is a mythological media history that paints the man to be more than a saint: he is a human saint. He made mistakes, and he admits to them. No one, not even his ex-wife, has a bad word to say about him. It's a lesson in how to use celluloid to create your own personal version of reality. But then, when did Lennon ever truly deal with reality?