Romanian director Andrei Ujica’s documentary TWST is a snapshot of America in a hot August 1965, the year The Beatles arrived.
The Past is a Foreign Country
by Alexa DalbyTWST
CAUTION: Here be spoilers
Someday, when I’m lonely
Wishing you weren’t so far away
Then I will remember
Things we said today
1965 is far away in the past now. Andrei Ujica’s clever compilation of archive film footage has been years in the making. The black and white footage of The Beatles and their frantic fans seems ancient now, but the inequalities of life for ordinary Americans linger on.
The Beatles arrived in the US to play Shea Stadium at the height of Beatlemania. In the ensuing press conference, you can sympathise now with the young men’s cheery patience at the asinine questions that were shot at them in the noisy scrum. Others were not so lucky, as the compilation, running the gamut of society, shows.
Not just for fans, Ujica’s fascinating documentary is a graphic, telling essay on the state of America, then and now.
With two Beatles documentaries at Venice, TWST (Things We Said Today) is vulnerable to being overlooked in favour of Kevin Macdonald’s more celebrity-focused One To One: John and Yoko.
TWST premiered at the Venice Film Festival on 4 September 2024. International representation is by The PR Factory.
