The Hours and Times: The fifth Beatle and Lennon fall gently in Spain

Reviewer: Walt Opie
Rating (out of 5): ***½

The Hours and the Times could almost be called a "speculative documentary" as it takes a real event in the lives of John Lennon and founding Beatles manager Brian Epstein, namely a private four-day holiday to Barcelona in April of 1963, and speculates as to what might have occurred between the two close friends behind closed doors in their hotel room. Of course, the result requires an opening disclaimer stating that everything we are about to see is "entirely fictitious," but perhaps the best indication that it is successful is that somehow it feels as if this is quite likely what did happen, that perhaps by some form of witchcraft writer/director Christopher Munch managed to get it exactly right, even though we know rationally this would be impossible. Wonderfully shot in old-school black and white, it even brings to mind the D.A. Pennebaker documentary of Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England, Don't Look Back.

The real crux of the story here is that Epstein (David Angus) happens to be gay, and he has an enormous "affection" for Lennon (Ian Hart, Professor Quirrell in the first Harry Potter film). Meanwhile Lennon, whose wife and baby are conveniently back home in England, appears to be flirting with the notion of somehow appeasing his dear friend, or perhaps experimenting for the hell of it. We have no idea what Lennon is really thinking, but we are led to believe both men know exactly what Epstein is hoping for the whole time.

Somehow none of this plays out quite as mysteriously as one might suspect. Instead what we get is a delicately realistic 60-minute film that manages to avoid cliché and deliver a poetic meditation on male friendship, especially as related to the bond that sometimes develops between a thoughtful, open-minded heterosexual man and his equally sensitive homosexual counterpart. Made for less than $20,000 with no art direction and a very limited crew, The Hours and the Times ultimately works thanks to an intelligent script and highly competent acting. As well, there's something intangible that comes through due to the location where it was filmed--an authentic old hotel in Barcelona--that perfectly evokes the 60's era somewhere in the back of our minds.

The only disclaimer is that, due to rights difficulties, no Beatles music is included here (although we do get to hear Little Richard sing a Fats Domino song), and also scant evidence of Beatlemania, partially because the action takes place roughly a year before the Beatles' first trip to America in February of 1964 when everything really exploded. The real Epstein, who would later be referred to as the true "Fifth Beatle" by both George Martin and Paul McCartney, died of a drug overdose in 1967.