A great documentary, rich cinematography

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2005)

'A Hard Day's Night' is an excellent Beatlemania documentary, showing an important piece of history in music. The film is not a traditional documentary, but it is a non-traditional documentary in the sense that it portrays the life of the Beatles at the height of Beatlemania. One of the most excellent aspects of the film is the excellent and artistic cinematography; director Richard Lester knew how to capture engaging moments to prevent this film from becoming dull and unengaging. The scene with the Beatles in the playing field (shot in one day from helicopter) is one of the most memorable scenes.
The humour in the film is done well, and it captures the individual personalities of the Beatles and the problems that they had with the media interfering in their lives - which is an important and unavoidable part. The best acting in this film was done by Ringo. The film captures his loneliness and loss of feeling of unacceptance. The scene where he walks down by the river after taking photographs is touching and acted out very well; it is easy to feel sympathy.
The music on 'A Hard Day's Night' album is also among the best that the Beatles performed, and there are several excellent film clips throughout the film that make this a historical music documentary.
It's thoroughly an enjoyable film packed with humour, rich cinematography, and excellent music. The only downfall of the film is that it moves rather slowly in some places; the cinematography and the music help bring it back into focus, but the script is not as engaging and it would fail as a story on its own. It is a must-see for Beatles fans and music enthusiasts. This film should be shown in music history classes. It is an excellent insight into the successful career of the Beatles.