George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011)

Genre: Documentary

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Cast: Olivia Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton

Running time: 208 minutes

This documentary, directed by Martin Scorsese, looks back on the life of rock guitarist, singer and songwriter, George Harrison. It starts with Harrison’s formative years, and then goes on through the Beatles era, the search for meaning in a material world and then onto the man’s solo career and early passing, at the age of 58.

In this film, we get to hear from family members, friends and a number of musicians who worked with George Harrison over the years. Scorsese has shown himself to be a great fan of music in his life and he seemed to have a genuine respect and appreciation for the former Beatle by the way he made this documentary. Some touchy situations were discussed, such as Harrison’s former wife leaving him for his friend Eric Clapton, but it was all done in a very delicate way.

I found it interesting to see a very thorough documentary film on George Harrison, a Beatles member that I always found to be so much underrated. It was great that some light could shine on all that he has accomplished in his career.

The only fault I found with this documentary was technical: The sound of the musical material was quite high, while the sound of the interviews was low, so I had to keep adjusting my set all the way through. Other than that small flaw, this is a must see.

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