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Killing Of John Lennon (The)
R1 - America - Genius Products Review written by and copyright: James Teitelbaum (10th August 2008). |
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The Film
 Before playing Mark David Chapman, the killer of John Lennon, in "The Killing of John Lennon", Jonas Ball had no real claim to fame. He'd provided voices in American dubs of a few Japanese Anime features, and was otherwise unknown. Before writing and directing "The Killing of John Lennon", Andrew Piddington had spent the previous nineteen years directing a grand total of a dozen or so television episodes, and was otherwise unknown. Before killing John Lennon,Mark David Chapman was a twenty-five year old loner from Georgia (by way of Hawaii) who was destined to live and die as a virtually invisible individual, fated to go to his end forgotten by all of humanity and completely unknown. The death of Lennon on December 8, 1980 had a profound effect on the music world, and it also allowed Chapman to succeed in one of his several rather flimsy motives for the murder: he become famous in the only way he would ever be able to. Tragically, it worked. It is also due to this heinous crime that Ball and Piddington will now climb to visibility and fame. Both men have done an admirable job in bringing this story to life, but for both of them it is the first highly visible work that they have been involved in. Were it not for the killing of Lennon, Ball and Piddington might still both be toiling in obscurity, rather than getting press attention for themselves and for their movie of "The Killing of John Lennon". As a film, "The Killing of John Lennon" is fairly straightforward. Ball tells a lot of the story in voice-over, reading actual quotes from Chapman's writings. The attempt to tell the story in Chapman's own words as accurately a possible is admirable, but it is also problematic in that Chapman really did not have much to say. Chapman was not an interesting person, and there is nothing interesting about his story: he was a nobody who shot someone famous. Of course, his crime can not be justified in any way; he had never met Lennon nor had he any real reason to hate the man. Hearing Chapman's own explanations (they come off as confessional, and never really attempt to justify or excuse his actions) only underscores the senselessness of the shooting. Although Ball is convincing and nuanced as Chapman, and the film is shot and edited confidently, the story is extremely linear with little or no suspense. Ball says: "I did this, I did this, and then I did this", and we see it all happen. To say that Lennon is shot to death about an hour into the film is no spoiler (even without the film's title giving it away, I think we all know that the man was murdered), but I wish that Piddington could have found a way to inject some tension into things.
Video
Aspect ratio is 2.35:1, anamorphic. Appropriately grainy photography (shot in super-16) by Roger Eaton comes off well on the disc, as does Tony Palmer's creative and sometimes intricate editing. The print has got a few spots here and there, but not so many as to be worthy of complaint. Running time is 1:54:39, divided into 22 scenes.
Audio
"The Killing of John Lennon" is presented in the original English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, with subtitles in English and Spanish. Nice atmospheric music by Makana and Martin Kiszko is well represented, and Ball's voice overs are clear in the mix. Occasional dialogue can be a touch muddy, but not to the point of distraction.
Extras
Genius Products has released this film with an audio commentary, a series of deleted scenes and the film's theatrical trailer. Below is a closer look at these supplements. In a scene-specific audio commentary with writer/director Andrew Piddington, the main creative force behind the film speaks rather slowly and softly, telling behind the scenes stories and adding dimension to plot points. According to Piddington, most of the scenes in the movie were filmed on the actual locations in which they took place, and every single event portrayed actualy happened. 14 deleted scenes follow: - "Locker/Self Analysis" runs for 1 minute 18 seconds; Mark drives around aimlessly. - "Teenage/Drugs..." runs for 2 minutes 35 seconds; Mark remembers his younger years doing drugs and finding Jesus. - "Mother/Son/Beach" runs for 2 minutes 15 seconds; Mark and his mother walk on the beach. - "Fridge Photos" runs for 48 seconds; Mark looks at photos. - "Mother/Son/Restaurant" runs for 2 minutes 45 seconds; Mark and his mother talk in a restaurant. - "Barbecue/Thru Rye" runs for 2 minutes 34 seconds; Mark, his wife, and his mother have a picnic on the beach. - "NY Driving/Meets Girl..." runs for 7 minutes 19 seconds; Mark arrives in New York and meets a pretty girl. - "Phone Call/Bullets..." runs for 3 minutes 12 seconds; Mark goes to Atlanta to buy ammunition. - "Central Park" runs for 58 seconds; Mark reflects in the park. - "Extended Record Shop" runs for 2 minutes 8 seconds; Slightly longer version of record store scene. - "Give Me The Strength" runs for 36 seconds; Further reflections on Marks life. - "Signing Catcher In The Rye" runs for 2 minutes 42 seconds; Mark signs copies of Salinger's book and talks to a doctor. - "Book Rights/Movie Rights" which runs for 1 minutes 56 seconds; Mark talks about the movie rights to Catcher in the Rye. - "Gloria/Beach Hawaii" runs for 2 minutes 26 seconds; Mark and his wife on the beach. Finally the disc includes the original theatrical trailer for "The Killing of John Lennon" which runs for 2 minutes 10 seconds.
Overall
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