George Harrison: Living in the Material World

I don’t want talking faces, you often hear documentary filmmakers say. To be understood: it is boring television stuff. In this case, and in many other, of course, the talking faces, at least most of them, are interesting to look at and are the ones that drive the story, here about George Harrison, told in an efficient way by Martin Scorcese and based on anecdotes and personal memories about an extraordinary character, who for many, but not for this Beatles-fan, stood in the shadow of John and Paul. The film, in two parts and made for television, by HBO in the US, is informative and entertaining and emotional – and for one who has grown up with the music, a great visual and musical walk down memory lane. They are all there, lots of archive with Harrison himself, and archive shot by Harrison himself, Ringo Starr, McCartney, Clapton, Ravi Shankar, Phil Spector, George Martin – and his wife Olivia Harrison, who gets the last word in a film that for Scorcese is  about a man, who was constantly searching for meaning on his spiritual journey through life. A man with humour, charming, generous and with a lot of songs that will stay like the still weeping guitar…

Saw the film on the big screen in the Copenhagen Cinema Imperial, more than 1000 seats. Excellent atmosphere.  

Martin Scorcese, USA, 3 hours and 20 mins., 2011

http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/george-harrison-living-in-the-material-world/index.html

http://www.georgeharrison.com/

Share your love
Tue Steen Müller
Tue Steen Müller

Müller, Tue Steen
Documentary Consultant and Critic, DENMARK

Worked with documentary films for more than 20 years at the Danish Film Board, as press officer, festival representative and film consultant/commissioner. Co-founder of Balticum Film and TV Festival, Filmkontakt Nord, Documentary of the EU and EDN (European Documentary Network).
Awards: 2004 the Danish Roos Prize for his contribution to the Danish and European documentary culture. 2006 an award for promoting Portuguese documentaries. 2014 he received the EDN Award “for an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture”. 2016 The Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. 2019 a Big Stamp at the 15th edition of ZagrebDox. 2021 receipt of the highest state decoration, Order of the Three Stars, Fourth Class, for the significant contribution to the development and promotion of Latvian documentary cinema outside Latvia. In 2022 he received an honorary award at DocsBarcelona’s 25th edition having served as organizer and programmer since the start of the festival.
From 1996 until 2005 he was the first director of EDN (European Documentary Network). From 2006 a freelance consultant and teacher in workshops like Ex Oriente, DocsBarcelona, Archidoc, Documentary Campus, Storydoc, Baltic Sea Forum, Black Sea DocStories, Caucadoc, CinéDOC Tbilisi, Docudays Kiev, Dealing With the Past Sarajevo FF as well as programme consultant for the festivals Magnificent7 in Belgrade, DOCSBarcelona, Verzio Budapest, Message2Man in St. Petersburg and DOKLeipzig. Teaches at the Zelig Documentary School in Bolzano Italy.

Articles: 3925