Let It Be

In January 1969 the Beatles go into a studio and begin work on a new album and a concert. The cameras record the process: rehearsals, arguments, George Harrison walking out of the band at one point, and finally the concert on the roof of the Apple building, cut short by the police. Michael Lindsay-Hogg first designed it for television, it became a feature, and it was released in 1970 after the band had broken up. That timing determined how it was read: for years it was taken as a record of a dissolution. The rooftop concert was the Beatles' last live performance. The film was legally unavailable for decades and was only restored and reissued in 2024. Who it is for: listeners of the Beatles and anyone curious about studio recording. Who it is not for: viewers wanting narrative, since this is almost entirely rehearsal footage.