Yoko Ono.
Just the name conjures up sets of conflicting images.
As much as she`s reviled by some for her supposed role in breaking up the Beatles, she is adored for being the love and inspiration of John Lennon`s life. As a musician and artist, her infamous squawk and experimental bent are to many the subject of scorn and derision, while in other circles, she`s lauded as an innovator and pioneer. And as often as she is branded a ”dragon lady,” she is also praised for her efforts as a peace crusader.
During a recent interview in her suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel, it was impossible to keep those impressions from welling up. But it was two other contrasting images of Ono that came to the fore.
On the one hand, given the plush setting and such formalities as the presence of longtime confidante Elliot Mintz, the meeting carried the atmosphere of a private audience with royalty.
On the other hand, given Ono`s prominent role in contemporary pop culture-plus her personable warmth and graciousness-it was like chatting with an old friend.
The less flattering side of her image has been readdressed lately through the publication of the controversial biography ”The Lives of John Lennon,”
in which author Albert Goldman paints Ono-and Lennon-as a manipulative, egotistical drug abuser.
Though not specifically referring to Goldman`s book, Ono seemed to shrug off such material, and even claimed that, in some ways, her bad reputation may have worked to her advantage.
”There are so many inaccuracies, but sometimes inaccuracies are a blessing,” Ono, 55, said in her familiar broken English. ”I mean, that image of a `dragon lady` was definitely a blessing in hindsight. . . . It might have intimidated some people with bad intentions.
”There was (an earlier book) that was particularly embarrassing for me. People told me the kind of things that were written in that book and I said,
`Oh, I would never want to read that.` It was just terrible. But I got a letter from a fan saying, `Until I read that book I didn`t know you, and now I have so much respect for you and thank you for being yourself.` . . . See, you never know what touches people.”
But on this particular day, it wasn`t her own image that concerned Ono. It was that of Lennon, with whom she shared her life from 1967 until his murder in December, 1980. Lennon is the subject of ”Imagine,” a documentary film initiated by Ono that uses intimate footage of the couple and excerpts from more than 100 hours of Lennon interviews to examine Lennon`s life and art. The film will open in Chicago on Friday -two days before what would have been Lennon`s 48th birthday. (A soundtrack album will be released at the same time.)
”This film was not just to set the record straight or give deep insight into John`s artistic venture or whatever,” said Ono. ”It was really to give a balanced view of (Lennon`s life). And I think that`s very important, because there are many people who don`t know what really happened, and they might want to see it from that point of view . . . wanting to know as a historical event. And it was a historical event, and I think this film is important from that point of view.”
With that in mind, in 1986 Ono approached David Wolper, a producer of documentaries, docudrama and special events who, over the course of more than 400 projects-including the miniseries ”Roots,” the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics and the documentary ”This Is Elvis”- had earned a reputation as the best in his field.
Still, Wolper, a member of the pre-Beatles generation who admittedly knew very little about Lennon before taking on this project, seems something of an odd choice.
”Some fans might think, `Oh dear, why did she go to him when there are so many filmmakers who went through that generation and feel they know John very closely,”` Ono said. ”The thing is, I had the choice of asking some very artsy filmmaker to make something that would just be shown on HBO or among friends. And also some people asked, `Why didn`t you go to Steven Spielberg?` But I thought that David Wolper had the right credit as a documentary filmmaker, as opposed to Spielberg, who has credit as a fictional filmmaker.
”I think that the objective eye is very important. Just like I did not make the film, and I could have. What I`m saying is we, the family, can`t do it-you can`t do it, I can`t do it. We`re too close. So let somebody who can just see it in a historical context do it.”
In a separate interview, Wolper acknowledged that he had a few reservations when Ono first approached him. But he agreed that his distance from the subject was a plus.
”You may be an expert on John Lennon, but if you`re not an expert on making a documentary it doesn`t mean a damn,” he said. ”It`s better to come at a person without prejudged love. Otherwise it becomes a bouquet, not a documentary.”
And, Wolper added, in the course of making the film he became a Lennon expert-as well as a fan. Director Andrew Solt, who worked with Wolper on the
”Elvis” project, made the producer a tape of Beatles and Lennon songs that Wolper listened to every day on his way to the office. His favorite songs?
”`Beautiful Boy` I liked a lot. `Imagine.` `Strawberry Fields` I liked, and `Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.”`
”Imagine” is a somewhat jumbled presentation that jumps around indiscriminately in time and place, offering few insights into Lennon that would be new to a fan.
Yet there are scenes that illuminate the extremes of Lennon`s life and personality. Among the most memorable sequences is an encounter with a confused young man who believes Lennon`s songs are directed specifically at him. Here, Lennon is firm but compassionate as he calmly tries to explain that the songs come from his own life and then-in a moment eerily prescient of Lennon`s 1980 murder at the hands of a similarly troubled man-invites the young man inside for a bite to eat.
At the other end of the scale is an ugly confrontation between ”Li`l Abner” cartoonist Al Capp and Lennon during the Montreal ”bed-in” in the spring of 1969, a few months after he and Ono were married. Watching the heated exchange is like viewing a traffic accident-difficult to watch, yet somehow compelling.
But the most moving scenes are those from the late `70s period, when John dropped out from the pop life to raise his and Yoko`s son, Sean, and live a private life. Equally impressive are the current interviews with a remarkably mature and articulate Sean, who will turn 13 on the birthday he shares with his father.
For Ono, the film provided an opportunity to re-examine the joys and pains of her life with-and without-Lennon. Watching scenes of her and John, she said, is a little embarrassing.
”At the time I was very big-headed and between John and I we felt like we knew it all,” she said, with a laugh. ”And especially with what happened in 1980, it was a big shock. It sort of humbled me. From then on I learned a lot of things that I never thought I would live to learn.”
She also admitted concern about whether some of the elements of the film would translate properly into the sensibilities of the `80s. In particular, the segment concerning the nude photo of her and John that graced the once-banned album ”Two Virgins.”
”I thought, `Oh dear, this is the `80s,` you know?” she said. ”But Sean said, `That`s very important.` I think we made a statement with that in the `60s, so it`s part of history and it has to be there. I was just worried about how it might be misunderstood.”
When she first saw the completed film, Ono was once again confronted with the reality that this ”historical event” was, in fact, a part of her life, full of haunting memories.
”I was blocking my tears, blocking my emotions,” she recalled of the first time she saw the finished print. ”I really wanted to make sure the film was done right, but in fact I still feel I want to block that side of me to cope with this event, this whole event of the film being shown (to the public). If I open that part of me the whole film is totally painful, and I just can`t do that.”
