THE INTELLECTUAL SPIRITUALITY OF THE QUIET BEATLE: a review of "George Harrison: Living In The Material World"

“GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD”
Directed by Martin Scorsese
*** ½ (three and a half stars)

“There are many roads up the same mountain.”
-Buddhist proverb

In our increasingly divisive modern times, I have to say that as much as I detest the lack of seriousness and respect given towards scientific facts from those on the more evangelical side of the street, I detest the lack of seriousness and respect given towards spirituality from those who revere the world of science perhaps even more. Please allow me to use Bill Maher as an example. Yes, I think he is an absolutely brilliant satirist and I never miss an episode of his weekly HBO program. But, over the years, he has shown more than a few cracks in his armor for my tastes. The fact that he is an atheist concerns me not a whit. What does concern me is his attitude, not necessarily towards religion and spirituality, but his attitude towards those people that do believe in some sort of a higher power at all. I am reminded of a time when he was due to interview Bill Moyers and the excitement he had concerning this particular interview was palpable. Yes, he did say something that irritated me to no end. While he respected Moyers immensely, he could not understand how someone who was obviously so intelligent could ever believe in God.

For me, as I have aged, I have found and believe that the worlds of science and spirituality are not mutually exclusive. I believe that not only are both worlds able to easily co-exist, they constantly work in tandem. Beyond that, I just feel that no matter how much scientific evidence and facts you have on your side, not everything can be explained. And perhaps, maybe some things are not even meant to be explained. Sometimes, things just ARE. Furthermore, and religious fanatics, closet racists and fear mongers aside, what does Maher’s atheism have to do with anyone else’s spirituality in the first place? What threat is it to him? Maher’s beliefs are his own just as my beliefs are my own. While I must stress that none of this was presented to initiate a theological debate, all I wish to express is simply this: There are many roads up the same mountain.

Recently, I had the sublime pleasure of viewing Martin Scorsese’s sprawling, two part, three and a half hour new documentary “George Harrison: Living In the Material World,” which explores the lifelong inner odyssey of the man forever known as “The Quiet Beatle.” As I poured through the film, I could not help myself but to often wonder what Bill Maher would have thought of a man like George Harrison. A man who rejected his Catholic upbringing because he found it foolish to believe in a certain spirituality without ever having proof but later embraced Indian culture and spirituality because through that religion, he found, without any doubts, that he had all of the proof that he needed to believe. What we witness through this film is a man’s spirituality that was formed through supreme intellect and not the supernatural.

In the documentary, Paul McCartney explains that he likened The Beatles to the shape of a square with each corner showing massive importance to the existence of that square as a whole. If one corner vanished, the entire shape would crumble. While I am as familiar with the story of The Beatles as a complete entity as I am with a classic fairytale or bedtime story, “George Harrison: Living In The Material World” attempts to provide a more individualistic approach. Scorsese opens his film as you may expect, with Harrison’s birth after the end of World War II, his early life and his subsequent bonding with fellow Liverpool natives and budding musicians John Lennon and Paul McCartney. From here, Scorsese chooses to travel through Harrison’s life in a most fascinating way.

“George Harrison: Living In The Material World” is a more anecdotal, conversational experience which therefore bypasses the standard dry documentary narrative to which we have all grown so familiar. Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison graciously opened up their personal archives and vaults to Scorsese and his team and what results for the viewer is a treasure trove of George Harrison’s personal home movies, photographs, writings, letters, and audio material.

In addition to speaking with Olivia Harrison and son Dhani Harrison (whose resemblance to his late Father is eerie), Scorsese also has gained access to new interviews with no less than the aforementioned McCartney, Ringo Starr and Yoko Ono, of course. Scorsese additionally, features many passages with a beautifully relaxed and open Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Vormann, percussionist Ray Cooper, drummer Jim Keltner and even members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, whom Harrison befriended as he ventured into film production for “Monty Python’s Life Of Brian” (1979) and Director Terry Gilliam’s “Time Bandits’ (1981).

Whether knowingly or not, as Scorsese has declared that the film was essentially being written during the editing stages, he has wonderfully delivered the life story of a man which allows itself to digress at will, follow side stories and narrative back alleys, moving backwards and forwards in time creating a sense of an everlasting NOW. Somehow, I have this feeling that is exactly the way George Harrison just may have wanted a film of his life to function.

Incidentally, I think that Scorsese has created a film that not only falls directly in line with the spiritual themes that are a constant of his own cinematic oeuvre, but most importantly, it is a film that just may approximate the type of spirituality George Harrison was attempting to achieve during his time here on Earth. I have to say that I have come to this observation because I watched this film very slowly, over a period of one week. In doing so, I found myself re-watching passages, re-watching sequences, trying to unearth the threads of the film and the man himself and I have to stay that this constant rumination made for a stirring experience.

During the lengthy sections detailing his life as a member of The Beatles, I found a new perspective upon how their unique experience affected them as individuals and how that experience may have formed Harrison’s spiritual quest. Once the Fab Four reached the top of the world with money, fame, and all of the Earthly goods they could possibly wish for and receive, almost at will, Lennon, McCartney, Starr and Harrison were forced to essentially ask of themselves, what more is there to life when you already have it all? Is this all there is? From here, Scorsese gives us a window into George Harrison’s determination to maintain an individualistic status while also being part of a group.

By the accounts given throughout the film, George Harrison was always an innovator, forward thinking, charming, mercurial, and sardonically funny as hell. As he aged, Harrison eschewed anything he felt to be a distraction from what was truly important in life. He eventually avoided awards ceremonies, performed music solely on his terms and enjoyed meditation, planting trees and caring for his estate at Friar Park, even in the moonlight. Certainly, George Harrison was completely giving of himself, to not only those he loved but to the world. For instance, the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh he organized with musician Ravi Shankar, an event which was the first of its kind and the blueprint for all benefit concerts which are now commonplace. As far as Harrison was concerned, if his level of celebrity could shine a deserving light upon people and places so desperately in need, then so be it.

Scorsese shows that it was an ambition of George Harrison to create beauty in the material world so blindingly wonderful that it would provide a sense of spiritual transcendence or heaven on earth. As far as I am concerned, every single note of music he recorded with The Beatles and much of his solo material accomplished that very feat. But for Harrison, the sense of transcendence occurred far beyond mere music. George Harrison was attempting to somehow make every moment he lived an extreme one, an intense one, filled with an almost over-powering emotion that one could catch a glimpse of what lies beyond what we can actually see and hear. To discover that beauty is a feat any of us could potentially attain and perhaps that constant search is what binds him to all of us for we all grow, change, experience, succeed and fail as we travel through our lives, hopefully achieving a newfound sense of meaning and purpose along the way. He was of us but not one of us, in a sense. Or as he states in his own words, he always tried to “be in the world yet not of the world.” Harrison was perceived as mystical but he was indeed populist as he simply desired all of us to find what he found, to seek what he sought in our own individualistic ways. Again and simply stated, there are many roads up the same mountain.

Furthermore, throughout George Harrison’s life, absolutely everything was designed to prepare himself for his individualistic moment of death. Yet, this was not experienced as a morbid fascination but again as one of spiritual transcendence as he just wanted to be in a state of mind and soul where he would leave the material world and potentially do so without fear but with anticipation. It’s all there in the lyrics for songs like “All Things Must Pass,” “The Art Of Dying” and especially “My Sweet Lord” when he sings, “I really want to see you. I really want to be with you. But it takes so long, my Lord.”

As I previously stated, Martin Scorsese has created a film that is more anecdotal and what great anecdotes that are shared with us! These include, but are not limited to, how Harrison coped during the infamous love triangle between Harrison, his first wife Pattie Boyd and close friend Clapton, who fell hopelessly in love with Pattie, thus inspiring the epic love song “Layla.” I also loved hearing about how Harrison became friend with the members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, became their cinematic financial benefactor while also avoiding turbulent board meetings in the process. A moment near the end of the film, during which Ringo discusses the last time he shared a moment with Harrison, including the last words Harrison spoke to him, really choked me up and I dare you to not feel the same as that moment was a testament to their legacy and brothers in musical arms and in life itself.

“George Harrison: Living In The Material World” is an experience unlike most rock music documentaries I have ever seen because of its serene languidness. It is not a rock music documentary although it is set to one of the most majestic soundtracks you could wish to hear.
This film is not designed to be an experience of immediacy or really anything visceral. This is a film to sit with. A film to immerse yourself in. Imagine yourself sliding into your most comfortable position, with your favorite warm drink, copious amounts of time with a treasured friend or friends or family, while being bathed and forever lost in the enveloping art of conversation. That is what Martin Scorsese’s documentary is like and I sincerely hope that the passionate tranquility of this experience washes over you and moves you just as much as it did for me.

“George Harrison: Living In The Material World” is currently airing on HBO with a subsequent DVD release to follow.

SAVAGE CINEMA SUGGESTS:

I cannot recommend highly enough Director David Leland’s wonderful concert film “Concert For George” (2003). Held at the Royal Albert Hall and under the musical direction of Eric Clapton on November 29, 2002, the one-year anniversary of George Harrison’s passing, the film is a bittersweet yet incredibly joyous event. Featuring the talents of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, the late Billy Preston, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and even the members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, I guarantee you will be singing along to every song while being washed in the eternal spirit of this incredible life.