Posted on: December 6, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

All My Loving / 2007 MVD / 52 Minutes / http://www.mvdb2b.com /

The title for All My Loving corresponds to a Beatles song of the same name. That fact is obvious for those individuals that grew up with The Beatles, but for someone that never was a huge fan of them such as myself, the fact was new to me. This movie is not new in any sense of the term; this DVD marks the 40th anniversary since the film was first released to the public by director Tony Palmer. Groups and other musicians that make their appearance in this film include a who’s who of sixties music: Frank Zappa, Manfred Mann, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and Pink Floyd are all present here. Individuals have t understand the context in which this film was created.

The bands that were previously mentioned, the individuals that have made such a large impact on current music, were virtually unknown at the time that Tony Palmer interviewed them. If I could make a comparison, it would be like interviewing a number of Little League baseball players and them grow up to be some of the starters for a MLB team. The one criticism that I have about this documentary would have to be the fact that the performances cut out before the entire song can be played. I understand that having a clip would be much cheaper than having the full song, but when some of these performances are limited to only being here, one wishes that the entire song was present. However, the lack of full songs is made up for with the inclusion of a 40 minute interview with Tony Palmer, something that will undoubtedly give individuals insight into the context of the documentary.

For example, one will learn from this DVD that the BBC almost never aired the documentary, claiming that it was too controversial for the time that it was made? While the attitudes present in some of the adults in the film seem alien to individuals that see adults rocking out to the same stars, “All My Loving” has aged well. The style of filming, the clip approach to musical interludes, everything jives well with current music documentaries. If you have any appreciation for the important rock that came out of the sixties, then “All My Loving” is a necessary purchase. It is perhaps the only way that an individual living in 2007 will be able to experience what it was like to live in 1967.

Rating: 7.0/10

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