On Dec. 8, 1980, John Lennon was murdered while entering his apartment building, The Dakota, with his wife, Yoko Ono.
“Borrowed Time” looks at Lennon’s life, particularly the last 10 years before his death.
Writer/director Alan Parker, who has directed a number of documentaries on British rockers, assembles a cast of mostly behind-the- scenes folks who worked with Lennon during that last decade of his life. Interspersed with archival footage, we get a picture of a complicated but often naive musical master who, with the rest of the Beatles, changed rock and roll.
No aging celebrities here. Although we are told anecdotes about Elton John, Nick Jagger and others, they are nowhere to be seen directly. Nor is Yoko Ono, or even John’s son, Julian. Was this a financial choice by the producers, a refusal on their parts to participate, or because their presence might detract attention from the star at the center of this solar stem – Lennon himself? I choose to believe it is the latter.
The film opens with tour manager Henry Smith relating a call he received in the fall of 1980. It was a call asking him to set up a tour for John Lennon. Others quickly became involved, including Mark Cunningham, musical journalist, who was to to develop a tour set that would “give Mick [Jagger] and Elton [John] f***ing ulcers.” It was going to be revolutionary.
Earl Slick, who played guitar with John on the “Double Fantasy” album, related how he was approached to be part of the tour. Then as things were coming together, Lennon was shot.
At this point, the documentary takes an abrupt shift backward. We see a series of clips in which John says some incendiary things, like: the Beatles being more popular than Jesus, that education wasn’t needed to succeed; he never learned a “damn thing” in school; and that his father was not worth knowing. Tariq Ali, political activist and writer, notes that when John died people wanted to “put him on a plinth,” “make him a saint,” which, of course, he wasn’t and would have laughed at.
Beatles historian Kenneth Womack then describes how John met Yoko Ono, the affection they had for each other, their temporary breakup, and the resentment and racism that came to the fore because of their union.
Many other interviewees go on to talk about John and Yoko’s support for the anti-Vietnam War and also how they got “drawn in” to many peculiar and even spurious issues due to their basic naivete. Inexorably, it leads up to the recollections of his death, and their thoughts thereafter.
This is a long film that explores John and Yoko and those around them during those last fateful years. For those interested in a behind the scenes look at two famous people, what influenced them, and how they influenced others, it is a treasure trove of reminiscences.
Runtime: Two hours, 14 minutes
Availability: In theaters May 2, 2025
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