Details

Release year: 1994

Storyline

A dramatization of the Hamburg, Germany phase of The Beatles' early history.

Top credits

Directors

Iain Softley

Writers

Cast

Stephen Dorff — Stuart Sutcliffe
Sheryl Lee — Astrid Kirchherr
Ian Hart — John Lennon
Gary Bakewell — Paul McCartney

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Awards

1 win & 2 nominations

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Did you know

• As seen in the movie, The Beatles are given "uppers" pills so they can keep performing when they're getting tired. Also, as seen in the shot after John accepts the pills for the first time, The Beatles are performing "Long Tall Sally" like crazed maniacs with eyes bulging and sweating profusely. The reason for this is that the uppers were actually prescription-strength "speed" pills. According to all of The Beatles in various interviews (most prominently in the "Beatles Anthology" film and book), the band was forced to perform up to eight hours a night, far and away more than a band can possibly play given the normal fatigue that sets in from singing and playing. Whenever they grew tired, the bartenders or the waitresses would often give them (and other performers) uppers to keep them going. Because of this, and their horrible living conditions in the Kaiserkeller Club's back room, The Beatles were often sweaty, smelly, pale and shockingly thin (speed pills back then doubled as diet pills) because they rarely bathed, hardly ever washed their clothes or, more importantly, ate healthy meals. However, after Stuart Sutcliffe began dating Astrid Kirchherr, she would feed the band and wash their clothes and allow them access to her bathroom for bathing. All of The Beatles have said that Astrid, more or less, kept them alive and healthy.

• Punk-rock musicians and techniques from the 1990s were used to create the film's soundtrack, instead of the precise styles of the period, to better convey the way the music felt to the early fans of The Beatles: "it was the punk of its day". Ringo Starr has been quoted as saying that the movie's music reflects exactly the punk band that The Beatles were back then.

• In the film, The Beatles are deported because George Harrison is caught working in nightclubs while underage, in violation of his work visa. In reality he actually was deported for that reason, but Paul McCartney and Pete Best were deported for "committing arson" when they pinned a condom on the wall of the Kaiserkeller Club and set it on fire as a joke. John Lennon was the only one who was not deported (besides Stuart Sutcliffe, who had already left the band and was living with Astrid). Technically, John could have stayed behind, but in various interviews he stated that he accompanied the others back to England because, in his words: "They were my friends and my band mates. What the fuck else could I do?"