A Hard Day's Night

A Hard Day's Night

During the 1960s, a new phenomenon arose in both Britain and the United States. This trend, which would affect much of the youth at the time, was and is still known as Beatlemania. In 1964, though the Beatles had completely launched their fame in Britain, they had not fully done so in America. As a result, the idea for the Beatles to star in their own movie came up, and Walter Shenson, an American producer, took over. A Hard Day’s Night, as the film was titled, was merely supposed to be a way to make money and produce a soundtrack; it was not predicted that it would be a legendary movie that generations on end would appreciate and love. No one knew how long the fame of the Beatles would last, so taking advantage of the moment and trying to get the most out of it was key. Many assumed that the film would fail, given all of the failed movie attempts by Elvis Presley years beforehand. The Beatles decided that they wanted to play themselves in the film, making it somewhat of a documentary of their everyday life, but in more of an embellished way. The film gives its audience a “fly on the wall” type of view of the Beatles, which allow them to see the Fab Four in a realistic way, which was not possible before. The audience sees this in three specific scenes during the film: the press conference, George’s meeting with the advertising executive, and John being recognized by his fan.
The press conference in the film is possibly an exaggerated re-enactment of the conferences that had taken place in America before. During the scene, it seems as if it is more about the press and less about the Beatles. For example, when the Beatles walk in, no one seems to notice. When the food is being catered, it is always taken away before they can get to it. However, the audience sees the press attacking the food like vultures. This imagery of people around the Beatles acting like vultures connects each scene to each other. Not only did the conference scene show how people acted...

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