The U.S. vs. John Lennon |  | Directors: David Leaf, John Scheinfeld
Actors: John Lennon, Pat Nixon, Chris Charlesworth, Everett Dirksen, Gloria Emerson
Category: DVD
Buy New: $14.98
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Seller: inetvideo
Rating:  83 reviews
Sales Rank: 167572
Format: NTSC
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
ASIN: B00005JP9L
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Amazon.com
In retrospect, it seems absurd that the United States government felt so threatened by the presence of John Lennon that they tried to have him deported. But that's what happened, as chronicled in directors David Leaf and John Scheinfeld's The U.S. vs. John Lennon. The film starts slowly, with a familiar look at the former Beatle's troubled childhood, his outspokenness as one of the Fabs ("We're more popular now than Jesus Christ," etc.), and his eventual hookup with Yoko Ono, paralleled by the growth of political protest in '60s America, particularly against the Vietnam War. John and Yoko went on to stage their own peaceful demonstrations, like the Canadian "bed-ins," but these were largely harmless media stunts. It was when the Lennons moved to New York in the early '70s and took a more active role in the anti-war movement, making friends with radicals like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Black Panther Party founder Bobby Seale, that the government got interested--and paranoid--and men like President Richard Nixon, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, and right-wing Sen. Strom Thurmond began actively looking for ways to silence him (it was Thurmond who came up with the deportation idea). That's also when the film picks up. An array of talking heads weighs in, ranging from Ono and others sympathetic to Lennon's plight (Walter Cronkite, Sen. George McGovern, even Geraldo Rivera) to those on the other side, including Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy. Though The U.S. vs. John Lennon is hardly impartial, it's safe to say that although Lennon was more an idealist than an activist, he was an influential celebrity whom Nixon viewed as a potential nuisance in an election year. And even once Nixon had won the '72 presidential race, the Immigration and Naturalization Service refused to drop its case. Why? "Anybody who sings about love, and harmony, and life, is dangerous to somebody who sings about death," says author Gore Vidal. "Lennon... was a born enemy of the U.S. He was everything they hated." For music fans, Lennon's solo recordings provide the soundtrack. The DVD also contains considerable additional documentary footage. --Sam Graham
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 83
New Info October 19, 2009
Michael Kerjman (The Earth)
Interesting, educative doco of John Lennon in the USA.
Personally, I found much new info, watching.
 Great film September 27, 2009
Chrissy Chaplik (North Carolina)
This film has some great historical clips and interviews with John Lennon. I would definitely reccommend this movie for any John Lennon fan.
The US vs. John Lennon September 12, 2009
James T. Davis (USA)
This is a must for Lennon fans.It shows just how much the government freaks out on people standing up for a cause.This is an in depth documentary on the government trying to [...] with John Lennon.
An ex-Beatle promoting peace? Imagine that! September 4, 2009
Jean E. Pouliot (Newburyport, MA United States)
This wonderful documentary film used John Lennon's own recorded interviews and his music to tell the story of his life, his political activism and the negative reaction to it from the US government. Many of the original actors -- Noam Chomsky, Walter Cronkite, Mario Cuomo, Angela Davis, John Dean and a still creepy J. Gordon Liddy -- are still around and gave enlightening interviews. The best part of the film were the many, many archival bits of John and Yoko. I had heard about their "Bed Peace" spectacle, in which the pair stayed in bed for a week to protest war. But the footage itself as fun, if not a bit bizarre.
Lennon was a cultural phenomenon at a time when radicalism was a scary, hairy thing. To see Lennon pal around with Jerry Rubin and Eldridge Cleaver on the very square, very mainstream "Mike Douglas Show" was to see the two opposite ends of the America spectrum in almost comic superimposition. For whatever reasons, Lennon used his popularity and notoriety as an ex-Beatle to advance some rather important issues.
You might not believe, as this film suggests, that John Lennon was a secular saint due to his public advocacy for peace. You might not even believe that the US government's attempts to deport Lennon were especially evil or even important. You might wonder whether Lennon's positions were sincere or the narcissistic side-effects of a monstrous ego. And you certainly might not (I didn't) buy the implication that John was deliberately silenced when he died in 1980. But "The US vs. John Lennon" sketches an America that is long-forgotten, in which the media and federal officials could take seriously the statements and political positions of a mere musician.
Lennon lives! May 14, 2009
Igor L. Krasnov (Duluth,MN)
This is a must for any one interested in the history of rock music and its connection with world politics. But even more than just that - this is a story about a great man who created great music and tried to resist great evil. Very well told, with a lot of authentic material ans interviews, this is a great tribute to a great musician and personality.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 83
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