Ron Howard – Director of The Beatles: 8 days a Week – The Touring Years

Written by Emily Elphinstone

For a man still lovingly known as ‘the guy from Happy Days’, Ron Howard has had a prolific career as a film director and producer. Though his credits include classics like Apollo 13 and Cocoon, more recently many of Howard’s most successful films have had their roots in reality; whether it is John Nash in A Beautiful Mind, the world of 1970s Formula 1 in Rush, or one of the most famous political interviews in Frost/Nixon. It is perhaps unsurprising then, that Howard has now made the transition into documentary, first with 2013’s Made in America (about Jay Z’s music festival of the same name), and now Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years which (as you may imagine) follows the gruelling touring schedule of The Beatles, from Ringo Starr’s entrance in 1962, to their final stadium show in 1966.

Other than their factual base, the common thread amongst these films is their focus on the individual personalities, rather than necessarily focusing on story, or society as a whole. Maybe this is why these films have become more memorable than fictional stories like Angels and Demons or The Dilemma.

The interest in the people behind the history, is part of the brilliance of Eight Days a Week. Though it might not necessarily reveal new information to hardened Beatles fans, the meticulous collection of never before seen archive footage, recordings, and new interviews; gives an incredible sense of the humour and personalities of the whole band. This brings home the contrast of their cheeky, very human characters, just wanting to make music; with the effect the band as a whole had on generations of fans; sending them wild with a shake of their famously matching haircuts. Howard also humanises the hoards swept away by Beatlemania; picking out some famous faces who were part of those screaming masses, including Whoopi Goldberg who was one of the 55,600 fans at the famous Shea Stadium concert of 1965; and Sigourney Weaver, whose 12 year old face can be picked out in the audience at the Hollywood Bowl in 1965.

Eight Days a Week may show the beginnings of teen culture, the first ever Stadium Tours, and one of the most successful acts in history; but it is most notable as an insight into the four guys who play in the band, and their incredible relationship. It may bring the music and the hysteria to life, but it also shows the individuals behind the music, without feeling the need to delve into their private lives away from the work. There are already rumours of a second film; and after leaving the screening with a smile on my face and an urge to listen to the entire Beatles back catalogue; I for one would welcome it.