Hard Days Night

I found the tension between what’s real and fake in ‘ A Hard Days Night,’ very interesting. While much of the film comes across as a realistic documentary it is important to be aware of the very constructed nature of the narrative as a whole and even the characters in it. At the beginning of the film one of the first stylistic choices as was aware of was the use of black and white. This choice had the effect of making the film seem more realistic despite the fact that colour is obviously a closer representation of the real world we live in. It is interesting that what we view as being real or at least more believably real is often a stylistic choice, which is in fact very constructed. There is also a feeling of a lack of real narrative drive in the film, which also adds to the viewer’s sense that the film is ‘real’ documentary, as it does not follow general Hollywood narrative structures. The characters of the Beatles extend this documentary feel even further as they are (supposedly) playing themselves and their dialogue and mannerisms seem unscripted and genuine.

Despite these realistic features of the film it is after all a film and is specifically crafted to have this effect. It’s interesting to think that despite the fact that they band members are playing themselves they are at the same time acting a personae. Even more interesting to think that these individual [personas created by a writer were so convincing that they became to the viewers mind the personalities of the real life band members. The constructed nature of the film is perhaps most evident when the Beatles break into song for little apparent reason. In these parts the film loses some of it’s documentary like feeling and follows more closely to the genre of the musical. Overall the confusion between what’s real and what isn’t makes for a thought provoking watch.