The Beatles 64 Documentary: Inside the ‘Restoration’.

In February 1964, when America was still reeling from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, The Beatles arrived in the USA for the first time and took the country by storm. Their debut appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show attracted more than 73 million viewers, and they created a media frenzy wherever they went, a situation playfully recreated in Richard Lesterclassic musical comedy “Hard day night,” which went into production immediately after The Beatles returned to England from a two-week tour.

Before Leicester filmhowever, legendary documentarians Albert and David Maysles—then still early in their careers—documented the Beatles’ stay in the U.S. with footage that has been largely unseen since it was filmed due to a series of admissions issues (not to mention that the United Artists aren’t very wanted the material to be in general release, where it could dilute the appeal of “A Hard Day’s Night”). Now the intimate shots of the Mays are the focus of the director’s work David TedeschiThe Beatles ’64, a gripping documentary that tells the story of what that February 1964 felt like for both the Beatles and the country that was rocked by their arrival.

Tedeschi, who as a director and editor has been responsible for some of the best documentaries of the last 10 years (The 50-Year Argument, Identity Crisis: One Night Only, Thunder Revue), is not the only heavy player involved from “Beatles ’64”; the film was created by Tedeschi’s regular collaborators Martin Scorsese and Margaret Bodde, and the archive footage was restored by Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production using technology previously used to great effect in another Beatles documentary, Jackson’s Get Back.

This restoration work is the key to Beatles 64’s greatest strength, which is how intuitive it is to the viewer; the footage looks and sounds like it was filmed yesterday, and the immediacy it creates allows audiences unfamiliar with The Beatles or their influence to understand exactly what the fuss was about. “We wanted it to look pristine because we thought it would make it more accessible,” Tedeschi told IndieWire. “We want to appeal to people who don’t necessarily know who The Beatles are. You can laugh at it, but a lot of young people don’t really know about their music.”

The music on “Beatles ’64” sounds spectacular thanks to the MAL source separation technology developed by Jackson’s WingNut Films and used by mixer Giles Martin, whose father, George, was a longtime producer for The Beatles. The software allowed Martin to take monophonic recordings of early television performances and concerts and separate elements so they could be demixed and then remixed into new stereo recordings that would have the same impact on modern audiences as The Beatles’ songs had on fans. in 1964. This, combined with the refined visuals, gives the viewer a front row seat to some of the most iconic, historically significant performances in rock ‘n’ roll history.

Tedeschi credits Park Road with doing heroic work on the Maysles footage, which was delivered to them in various stages of deterioration. “Some of the drums had vinegar syndrome, which destroyed the film,” Tedeschi said, noting that even material in decent shape was wildly disorganized. “Park Road took those boxes and boxes of film and rearranged the dailies in chronological order.” The work took three years before Tedeschi even joined the project, with footage marred at Park Road by broken joints, severe shrinkage, torn sprockets and even film literally falling apart.

Although the archival footage in The Beatles 64 comes from many sources — in addition to Maisles’s material, there are scenes and individual shots obtained from private collectors, television networks and other sources — the final product is flawless thanks to the work of the cinematographers, editors, artists – restorers and colorists Park Road. “Everybody was very determined and diligent about it,” Tedeschi said. “Time was the enemy, but we made it – he got on the platform.”

This platform is Disney+, where “Beatles ’64” can be seen (and listened to) in all its glory; above, IndieWire has an exclusive clip of The Beatles singing “She Loves You” that offers a glimpse into the film’s remarkable restoration work.