My son and I share a great enthusiasm for pranks. Maybe it is a gene. I have been trying to pinpoint when I recognized that they were one of the great things that could be accomplished in our short stay. I am still searching the memory stacks, but this rates in terms of filmed history. I was probably eight years old when I saw it. And granted, it’s not an outright full throttle prank, but in watching it you know rules are broken and fun is had.
Giving myself over to these short seven minutes, I also get caught up in the filmmaking. What a great simple idea. The wind alone makes it all feel so free. The sense of spontaneity and the growing awareness as the crowd gathers are so rich. That one shot of Yoko is so romantic. And John will forever have one of the greatest rock and roll voices. Fashion-wise, I think they are at their peak here too, with their maximum radical cool phreak flag high. And where is the piano? The cameras? And who are the bald guys that first gather on the roof? Are they going to steal their hair?