John Lennon’s Final Interview Turned Into a Documentary

CANNES, France (AP) – On December 8, 1980, John Lennon and Yoko Ono gave an interview to a San Francisco radio team from their home at the Dakota Apartments in New York. They were promoting their new album, “Double Fantasy,” but the two-hour conversation covered many topics. The interviewers were warned against asking “Beatles questions,” yet Lennon and Ono were candid and open. On that day, Annie Leibovitz captured the iconic portrait of a naked Lennon embracing Ono.

The interview itself was revealing. Lennon and Ono spoke about love, their relationship, creativity, life post-Beatles, raising their young son, and songwriting in bed. At 40, Lennon seemed to have found clarity. “I feel as if nothing happened before today,” Lennon remarked.

In “John Lennon: The Last Interview,” Steven Soderbergh used these surviving tapes to make a documentary that demystifies Lennon and Ono. It parallels what “Get Back” did for the Beatles. The film premiered Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival.

“I was deeply moved by their generosity of spirit throughout the conversation,” Soderbergh said in an interview at Cannes. “It’s as if the whole world took place in one day, in this apartment.” Creating the film presented challenges, as Soderbergh wanted to let the audio play. While he managed to illustrate much of the movie, some philosophical sections remained a problem to depict.

“I worked on everything that could be resolved until I ran out of time and money,” Soderbergh recounted. He eventually agreed to use Meta’s artificial intelligence software to generate surreal images for about 10% of the film. This decision caused a stir, especially with critics at Cannes.

The AI-generated parts, mostly seen as ordinary special effects, didn’t feature manipulated images of Lennon. Still, Soderbergh found himself at the forefront of the debate on AI in filmmaking. For him, who has filmed movies with iPhones, this is a discussion worth having.

Soderbergh: “The transparency is so important outside the creative context. We are unaware of the extent to which this is used to manipulate us. We find out later, by accident, or through a whistleblower. I’m my own whistleblower: ‘This is what he is doing.’

Soderbergh anticipated the reaction. “I take it seriously and understand why people have an emotional response,” he said. Accepting Meta’s tools to complete the movie came with the expectation of criticism.

Some fear generative AI will wreak havoc on the film industry. Soderbergh doesn’t see it as a threat. He believes that key filmmaking jobs can’t and won’t be replaced by technology. As AI achieves technical perfection, imperfections become more valuable and interesting.

No one with significant creative credibility has fully embraced AI in projects, “but I think it’s necessary to see where the line is,” Soderbergh said. He doesn’t believe his work crosses that line, but he’s still figuring out his limits. “I’m waiting to see,” he added.

Asked about the instructions given to create the animations, Soderbergh responded with descriptions like “light circles appearing out of nowhere” and “a black rose turning into something like Busby Berkeley style, then a red rose.” The benefit of this technology was its ability to quickly show him something he could respond to.

As for any framework to limit this technology, Soderbergh emphasized necessity. “Is this the only way to achieve what I want? Is it really the best way?” he pondered. These questions are crucial, he said, and many will miss meeting these challenges.

There is an aesthetic debate, mirroring the ethical one. Yet the film captures an unfiltered human dialogue. “I needed a way to visually follow them,” Soderbergh explained. “It’s hard to predict how long it will take to find balance with this technology.” He believes that filmmakers will eventually achieve this balance, each department having a different relationship with AI.

The conversation in the film deeply inspires, especially Lennon’s desire to dismantle the myth of the male rock star. At a time when no one considered this, it was powerful. “What I hope young viewers take from this is his truthfulness from the beginning to his last day,” Soderbergh shared. Lennon had firm opinions, but was constructive, always questioning if we could improve as humans on this planet.