Although there have been books, documentaries, and articles about the life of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Sean Ono Lennon hoped that a new film would show the couple in a different light. During the 1970s, the couple found themselves at the center of controversy when they decided to move to New York City and focus on political activism. Their thoughts on the administration at the time led to the FBI surveilling both Lennon and Ono. President Richard Nixon even tried to deport Lennon. With Ono and Lennon navigating the turbulent years, Sean considered One to One: John & Yoko a “revelatory” experience.
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While Sean wasn’t born at the time, he remembered how much his mother discussed those years with him. “I knew about that time. It was only a couple years before I was born. My mother spoke about it a lot. I know a lot about their story, including (this time period), so I would not frame it that I learned something necessarily.” Taking fans on a trip into the 1970s, the film already premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, and the Telluride Film Festival.
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The Message Sean Ono Lennon Wanted The Film To Convey
Gaining praise for the film, One to One: John & Yoko will be released in theaters on April 18th. It will also head to Max later in the year. Directed by Kevin Macdonald, editor Sam Rice-Edwards discussed the concept surrounding the story. “Kevin came up with the concept of presenting the world as John and Yoko would have seen it in 1972; we felt if you did that, and we also spent time with them, in a way, that was really what people hadn’t done before. We found moments where we felt like the camera wasn’t on them…which gave us a fresh look at John and Yoko.”
As for Sean, he admitted he would have made a concert film surrounding his father, but loved what Macdonald presented. “It’s not easy to maintain such a complex story, but (One to One) does it very beautifully. If it was narrated it would’ve been more of an op-ed. This is a true documentary in that it allows the subjects to tell their own story.”
Looking at the heart of the film, Sean added, “I think an important message to glean from the film has to do with the way my parents reacted to the more extreme elements of the radical activists they were working with at the time.”
Quickly learning of the dangers that surrounded them, Sean concluded, “They had to pull back — not just because it became dangerous for them but because people who were arguing for potentially violent activism were basically becoming as bad as the people they were fighting, which is really an important message for today, too.”
(Photo by Dennis Stone/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
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