‘Nowhere Boy’
Reviewed by Christy Hogan
This film charting John Lennon
ʼs early life could quite frankly
have been titled ʻTwo Sistersʼ. The
genesis for the film is a memoir by
Julia Baird and is a debut for artist
Sam Taylor Wood as a feature
director.
We are introduced to a teenage
Lennon (Aaron Johnson) living
in 1950s post-war Liverpool. He
is being raised by his aunt Mimi,
(Kristin Scott Thomas) his mother
ʼs sister, and his uncle George.
The house is on a cherry blossomed
avenue in a fashionable
Liverpool quarter. Aunt Mimi is
a battleaxe, strict and strait-laced.
She likes classical music and is an
avid book reader. However, she
allows herself a little indulgence
in smoking cigarettes.
In contrast, Uncle George is
laid-back. He encourages Johnʼs
interest in music and gives him a
harmonica. Unfortunately, Uncle
George dies early in the film and
the stage is set for a battle between
free spirit John and his disciplinarian
aunt.
Mimi is a control freak to say
the least. She insists John keep his
tie knotted properly and always
wear his glasses. She sheds no
tears following Georgeʼs demise
and with a stiff upper lip insists
that John and she ʻget on with
lifeʼ.
John is distraught by Uncle
Georgeʼs death, and underlying
troubles begin to emerge. At
school John is a bit of a rogue and
after some encouragement flashes
his crown jewels for some giggly
girls. This leads to his suspension
and a tongue lashing from Mimi.
The troubled John eventually
traces his mother Julia (Anne
Marie Duff) to an address at a
council estate. He hasnʼt laid eyes
on his mother since he was a toddler.
She embraces him and allows
him stay with her and her partner
and their two children.
Julia is what you might call a
bohemian lass and a flirt into the
bargain. Her behaviour with her
son John borders on the incestuous
and I felt a little uncomfortable
with this.
The pair go to a bar where she
dances to juke box music and
rattles her jewellery and everything
else. She ticks all the right
boxes for the punters with their
eyes popping out of their sockets.
And she drinks, and smokes like
a chimney stack. John finds his
motherʼs ʻcome on to meʼ behaviour
disturbing.
However, it is through music
that John and Julia really connect.
Julia owns a banjo and she shows
John how to play a few chords
and sings the well known song ʻO
Maggie Maggie May can I take
you out to play and youʼll never
more see Lime Street anymoreʼ.
There is a lovely sequence here of
Lennon mastering the instrument
over weeks spent in his auntʼs living
room.
Back at school after his suspension
John forms a band with some
of his mates. They decide to call
themselves The Quarrymen. Paul
McCartney (Thomas Sangster)
joins and is as shrewd as a fox. He
proffers the idea of writing their
own music, bypassing the traditional
music companies. He also
suggests forming their own record
company. A clever lad is Paulie.
At a later stage George Harrison
(Sam Bell) arrives on the scene.
Although Ringo has yet to appear,
the relationship between the
young Beatles-to-be has a familiar
ring, John the roguish leader, Paul
the business minded pragmatist
and George the dreamer are all
beautifully portrayed.
A sense of the power, originality
and sheer excitement of their early
gigs is also well captured. The
film brings the story of the band
up to their departure for fame and
fortune in Hamburg.
The move is portrayed as a
symbolic milestone, separating
the teenage John from his troubled
past and paving the way
for a bright future. In a moving
postscript, we learn that John
telephoned his Aunt Mimi every
week until his death.
The film is very much a period
piece, lovingly recreating the Liverpool
of fifty years ago. I would
suggest that while well-made, and
handsomely filmed, this movie
may have a limited appeal to those
under 50.
Marks: 3 out of 5 |
