John Lennon: The Last Interview

More powerful than an argument or a treatise, The Last Interview is an immersive experience. It will be a reminder for some and an eye-opener for others of why John Lennon mattered to people, and why his murder was so shattering.

Soderbergh has done an ace job of illustrating “The Last Interview” by turning it into a dreamy archival collage, accompanying John’s words (and Yoko’s too) with hundreds of photographs I had never seen before. (He also uses a handful of fantasy images created by AI; if they’d been devised with older technology, no one would care, and no one should care now.)

John Lennon: The Last Interview is a minor work in the canon of both Soderbergh and John/Yoko, but it’s a niche wellspring of hyper-detailed information for Beatles purists.

Rarely seen photos of Lennon and Ono reveal a charming, playful side to the couple. However Soderbergh has also used generative AI to create surreal images to illustrate 10 per cent of the film, which feels like a misstep because the poorly conceived pictures (streets flooded with oil, crying babies) are a world away from the tender story of loss and grief at the heart of this documentary.

Ironically, or not, the very tools Soderbergh has used to make the film distinctive ultimately render it indistinct and unmemorable.

Lennon’s final words are a bit sullied by this crassly digital malfeasance, to the point that one might consider waiting for the streaming release to look away from the screen, enjoying the interview in its unfiltered glory.

There is archival interest and historic drama in what Lennon has to say – and especially for me in his generous, open-minded comments about newer bands such as the B-52s and the Clash. But this is a disappointment.