Part 2 covers roughly the next 12 minutes of Richard Lester's film. We look at the absurdist downplayed reaction to finding an intruder in your hotel room cupboard, and the generational disconnect in how comfortable the Beatles seem in the nightclub, vs how grandfather can only fit in at the casino by pretending to be someone else.
Plus! The class dynamics in Ringo Starr's jump-dancing with a posh fellow clubgoer, and some more magic realism in John Lennon's bathtub scene.
Links
A Hard Day's Night is often on BBC iPlayer, although not at the moment, and available to rent on a few streaming services
There's also a good quality copy on YouTube at the moment, which might of course be taken down soon. Do yourself a favour and buy the Blu-ray anyway.
Get Samira Ahmed's excellent book about the film, from the BFI Modern Classics series
James Wood in Prospect magazine in 2000, coining the term "hysterical realism" with reference to, among other books, Zadie Smith's White Teeth
The series
A Hard Day's Night (Part 1: A train)
We kick off our deep dive into the Beatles' 1964 film debut, unpacking the absurdist class comedy of the train carriage scene. "Who's that little old man?"
Listen on Spotify
A Hard Day's Night (Part 3: And a car)
From press conference chaos to a tender rendition of If I Fell, we compare John Lennon's jokey delivery to Paul McCartney's straightforward And I Love Her.
A Hard Day's Night (Part 4: And a room)
Three solo spotlights in one go: John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney each get their moment, including Paul's performance of And I Love Her.
A Hard Day's Night (Part 5: And a room)
Ringo Starr steps into the spotlight as we explore his standout scene with Wilfred Brambell, then join him parading by the Thames and meeting a fellow deserter.
A Hard Day's Night (Part 6: And a room)
We reach the film's frantic finale, tracing its Buster Keaton-inspired chase scenes and asking if Ringo Starr's homecoming really resolves anything.