When it involves feelgood movies, it may not shock some {that a} choose would come courtesy of Robert Zemeckis. After all, he has delighted us with a few of cinema’s most enduring and crowd-pleasing blockbusters. But it’s not Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, nor any of the same old suspects who’ve secured spots on IMDb’s all-time favourites lists that I return to when I want a pick-me-up. It’s his very first movie, 1978’s I Wanna Hold Your Hand: a criminally underrated gem of a debut that flopped on the field workplace however has all the time felt like one thing near magic for me.
Set in 1964, it’s as a lot a madcap comedy romp because it is a honest ode to fangirls, capturing a day within the lifetime of a riotous group of youngsters within the grip of full-blown Beatlemania. They hatch a plan fuelled by the type of misguided delusion solely youngsters can have: sneak into the Beatles’ resort by way of limousine, see them in all their corporeal glory, and by some miracle, rating tickets to their legend-making efficiency on the Ed Sullivan Show.
I first watched the movie on the age of 12, having freshly graduated from chopping out One Direction posters in magazines to diving headfirst into Beatlemania myself. In my final piece, I informed you to “stop screaming about the Beatles biopics”, however I should confess: my personal screaming in regards to the band hasn’t let up since I first acquired hooked on Rubber Soul. Though I’m a gen Z-er, born in 2003 and a long time late to the get together, Zemeckis’s evocative portrait of girlhood obsession’s delirium jogs my memory there’s one thing timeless – and a little bit bit holy – about being a fan.
He transports us to a small report retailer in suburban New Jersey the place cultlike hysteria is already in full swing. Swarms of teenage women are clobbering one another for the newest copies of Meet the Beatles. But nobody’s louder (or extra unhinged) than Rosie (Wendie Jo Sperber), who lets out a mighty squeal: “Oh my god! It’s Paul, it’s Paul! I’m gonna die right here!” Her buddy Pam (Nancy Allen), resisting the tide of her interior Beatlemaniac, flatly replies: “He’s cardboard.” As we meet the remainder of the gang, it’s clear a mere cardboard cutout simply gained’t do. So they pile right into a hearse – not fairly the limo they hoped for – however due to their naive, unlicensed classmate Larry (Marc McClure), they swing and swerve their approach to New York.
Each character has a motive for making the pilgrimage: Janis (Susan Kendall Newman), a Joan Baez-loving activist satisfied the Beatles are a company ploy, is set on picketing. Grace (Theresa Saldana), an aspiring photographer, is after career-making pictures. But then there’s Tony Smerko (Bobby Di Cicco), a tough-talking greaser who swears the band’s haircuts alone threaten masculinity – but tags alongside anyway.
The subsequent 90 minutes are pure, sugar-rush mayhem and all supercharged by a soundtrack of actual Beatles songs – a uncommon delight you may’t get on a low finances immediately. As they sprint up and down elevators, resort lobbies and the Beatlemaniac-flooded streets of Manhattan, all whereas dodging law enforcement officials and resort employees, you may’t assist however root for them. The funniest scene options Pam slipping into the band’s resort suite in a room service cart, the place she undergoes what can solely be described as an awakening. She writhes and crawls to McCartney’s Höfner bass, kissing and caressing it (after stashing her engagement ring in her shoe, after all), then collapses in ecstasy. It’s absurd, it’s hilarious, but it surely additionally feels unusually honest.
Though the enjoyable hinges on the fever pitch of the Beatles’ arrival within the US, they’re solely ever proven by way of actual archival footage, by no means by actors enjoying them. Zemeckis provides us glimpses: the backs of their mop-tops obscured by way of an ajar cabinet door, toes from below a mattress, however they continue to be simply out of sight. When a band has been so relentlessly documented, something lower than the true factor can really feel like a letdown. The movie recognises that the Beatles’ enchantment lies of their existence on a better airplane – virtually too towering, too universally adored and mythic to distil on celluloid. Its brilliance is Zemeckis turning his lens on the impact they’ve had on us by centering the very individuals who made them a cultural power: the fangirls.
Even on the peak of their parasocial hijinks, Zemeckis by no means treats girlhood obsession with a touch of mockery or condescension. Rather, it’s an affectionate celebration of what it means to be a fan – its heady thrills and innate universality – as hilarious because it is relatable. I wasn’t born anyplace close to the 60s, however each time I rewatch I Wanna Hold Your Hand, I really feel like I missed out on all of the enjoyable. I would have been diving out of a hearse for live performance tickets and buying and selling dodgy memorabilia too.
Despite being about one of many world’s most well-known fan golf equipment, I really feel like I’m a part of a secret one only for this movie – championing its under-appreciated, fizzy appeal to these but to expertise it.
