8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Creation of a Spectacle, October 28, 2008
This review is from: All Together Now [Region 2] (DVD)
In Adrian Will's documentary All Together Now the audience follows the creation of the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil's Love from its inception in a wintry Montreal to opening night at the Mirage in Las Vegas.
In the beginning George Harrison met with Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte to discuss a possible collaboration between the two groups. The key was that both the Beatles and Cirque would not give up creative control of the project. Unfortunately soon after their original meeting Harrison died. Harrison's widow Olivia, along with Yoko Ono, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr vowed to keep the project going.
The documentary follows the process of getting the show on stage. Starting with concept meetings in Montreal we move through casting and recreating the Beatles music for the show. There are extensive interviews with musical directors Sir George Martin nd his son Giles on how the original music was remixewd for the show. Interviews with Apple Corps representatives detail the concern that the music be performed by the Beatles and not stage performers.
After five months the show moves to its new home in Las Vegas and the creation of the theatre is shown along with the creative changes that were mandated by the production crew and director Dominic Champagne. Champagne explains at one point his concept for the show: "I wanted to create a Beatles experience rather than a Beatles story, taking the audience on an emotional journey rather than a chronological one, exploring the landscapes and experiences that have marked the group's history."
There are meetings with the surviving members of the Beatles and the widows and chilgren of Lennon and Harrison and the production moves into high gear as preparations are made for opening night. The film ends with clips from the premeire.
All in all this is a well made documentary that takes the audience through the creative process. It will appeal more to those who have seen Love than those who have not but it is still a worthwhile viewing experience. The DVD also features three shorts on the production.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you've seen the show, you'll LOVE this!, October 27, 2008
This review is from: All Together Now [Region 2] (DVD)
While we Beatle fans wait for the official release of this show either on DVD or BD, Apple and Cirque Du Soleil have released "All together now", a documentary film that covers the creation of LOVE, Cirque Du Soleil's show at the Mirage in Las Vegas. The film is dedicated to the memory of Neil Aspinall, who passed away last March 2008. Being this one of the stationary shows of Cirque in Las Vegas, it is understandable that for now, a DVD release may not be viable for an ongoing show.
The film starts with the story we all know in which it was George Harrison's idea to bring together the music of the Beatles with Cirque Du Soleil. From then on we see the whole creative process that ends up with the premiere with the attendance of Paul, Ringo, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono. All the people directly involved tell their stories and how the show materialized after struggling with so many things. As Cirque fans should know, they never let people outside the Cirque be involved in creative control, in this case, besides having Mirage and Cirque agreeing on what the show should be, there were other four people involved in the creative process, the surviving Beatles, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison. It is a little bit funny to see both Olivia and Yoko arguing with Cirque people on the things they did not like or they would prefer to see with the songs of their late husbands. In the end, as Yoko says, all they do is try to take care of the things John and George created, "It is sad that John is now only a voice" she points.
It has some very emotional moments and the creation of the soundtrack is also covered, many fans argued if what George and Giles Martin did to the masters and the songs was the right thing to do. Paul is very direct when he says "The fact that we (The Beatles) are allowing it should be enough for anyone" I had mixed feelings about the music too when I first heard it, loved some songs hated some others, but when I finally saw the performance I understood that all they did was for the sake of the show and to have it flow as all Cirque shows do. The point of mixing the Beatles' songs like they did had as an only purpose to enhance the incredible visuals Cirque had created.
The last 20 minutes of the documentary include some bits of the show for the people who have not had the opportunity to see it live. It is presented in anamorphic widescreen with subtitles in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Audio is presented in Dolby digital, Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1
Extras include three more documentaries: "Changing the music" follows George and Giles Martin to the studio where they mixed the songs, very interesting to find out which song convinced everybody to go for the mixing. "Music in the theatre" shows the sound system they had to create specially for this show to have the audience fell the surround experience they designed for the music. "Making Love" has some examples of the performances and how they were developed, including the shadows sequences (one of my favorites), while I believed all the voices in the show were imitators, all the dialogues are actual montages from dialogues of the Beatles themselves while recording in studio!
Bottom line, a great DVD, I found myself enjoying this documentary very much. This may ease for a while the wait to see a release of the show soon on DVD, hopefully BD... LOVE in high definition would be a GREAT thing to watch.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Documentary, October 28, 2008
This review is from: All Together Now [Region 2] (DVD)
A great documentary of a Great Show. Had the fortune to see the show in Las Vegas, and this DVD is the perfect retrospective of the magnificent "Love". The soundtrack (DTS 5.1) is great, as well as the interviews, the rehearsals and all what happened before the show was cast in June 2006. Think, that the director did a great job and makes me dream of seeing the show again.
A great pictorial of creative minds, both at the Cirque and the fabulous Four Kids.
It's a must for anyone who appreciates The Beatles and Cirque Du Soleil.
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