James Christopher
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Andrew Piddington’s clever reconstruction of The Killing of John Lennon took four years to assemble and earned him a lucrative contract with Miramax. Instead of making a documentary, Piddington paints a surreal picture of this famous murder as if he was a bystander in Mark Chapman’s head. This is not a healthy place to be, but there’s a hypnotic beauty about the way the director shoots the story through Chapman’s eyes.
The film begins with a day in the life of the 25-year-old Chapman (Jonas Ball), a security guard in Honolulu. Chapman has a Japanese wife, Gloria (Mie Omori), at whom he shrieks; a mother (Krisha Fairch-ild) who dates men younger than himself; and grudges about his father that bubble in and out of focus like the grainy news items we glimpse on the television screens at Chapman’s home, or in his New York hotel rooms.
Ball is utterly mesmerising as the unstable Chapman, so creepily in tune with his thoughts he looks unhealthy. The would-be killer is dangerously self-obsessed by the fact that he is not a particularly interesting person, until he gets hold of a library copy of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. The book illuminates and magnifies a confusion as adolescent as it is anguished. For entire reels the intoxicated Chapman actually believes he is Holden Caulfield. He strokes Salinger’s image on the front cover of Time magazine, and stands for days outside Lennon’s apartment on West 72nd Street home in the Dakota with a big furry hat on his head and Lennon’s double album Double Fantasy under his arm.
The events leading up to the murder – and the reconstruction of the moment itself – are supremely well-handled by Piddington. Why did he plant five bullets in John Lennon? “Because he’s a phoney,” says Chapman, clearly not at all sure why he killed Lennon at all. “I just want to go back to how it was before I pulled the trigger,” he says in the back of the police car.
How psychiatrists, the police, prisoners and the public react to Chapman after the shooting is equally revealing. He is caught in the eye of a storm. The power of the film is the way it charts, indeed enacts, a man losing his grip on reality. An extraordinary debut by Piddington.
Certificate 15, 114mins

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Having worked on this Movie as an Extra (Orderly in Bellvue)... when Jonas (MDC) was doing the interview with The Psychiatrist (in the Bellvue Set) the entire cast of Extras, and others were in the room watching Jonus Film That Scene and we were Mezmorized By the distantance of his looks and the cynically warped Mind of MDC that Jonus Brought Back to Life on that set..,an amazing performance.
Commenting on a Movie without seeing it, simply Because Its about a Great tragedy in Life is Ignorant. I like Boats I guess "Titanic" should have been boycotted.. This story is a Docu-drama.. it fully researched to the facts of what actually happened and led Up to that tragic Day...
The Praises are for the Incredable story and acting not for The Miserable bastard its Based on... get over yourself... its been 27 years
Rodney, Bayonne, New Jersey
I have not yet seen this movie. I dont think its released in the US yet, but as a beatle fan and especially a huge, devoted fan of John Lennon, this film about his killer will fall under tremendous scrutiny.
Any film that reminds the world that MDC is still alive and "protected" in that jail for the last 27 years, while a tremendous musical genius is no longer with us to share his vision should not be glorified.
diane, flushing, NY, USA
John Lennon was not perfect....and the man that killed him even less so.....This film does not glorify Chapman (I've seen it unlike most commentators) but it gives a little insight into why he ended up the way he did....draw your own conclusions.. his own words are used thoughout...its creepy and disturbing...and as an independent film it punches well l above its weight....go and see it...and then pontificate !!!
Chris, London,
The subject matter of this film is so true and raw to the life experience. Not debating if these events should be filmed and replayed in "honor " of the murderer but to pass on the truth of how this great tragedy occured is of question.....the actor in this film convinced me of the insanity that it took to kill the amazing musical legend.
Katy, NY, US/NY
yeah but why not ban |"Monster "zodiac" and every other film about a real life serial killer, maybe some victims are more important than others?
Uche george, London , UK
Apparently Mark Chapman committed this murder to achieve recognition. The making of this film gives him this reward. On that night, it's a fair bet that John Lennon and his wife were just walking into their home looking forward to saying goodnight to their son when Mark Chapman stepped forward. What he did makes me sick to the stomach. And soon it will be available on DVD. So we can all watch it over and over again. Making this into a film is totally revolting.
Mark, London, UK
I would have to agree that the release of this film is grossly disrespectful to the memory of a musical legend, particularly when one considers that the murderer (I'll not even dignify him with a name) admitted in interviews that he killed John Lennon for the notoriety.
Even filming a documentary on the killer, let alone releasing a major Hollywood film with all the furore that that entails, is, as has already been stated, nothing more than an accessory to the killing.
John Lennon was murdered by a man who wanted you to remember his name. Do us all a favour, and look the other way.
Ben Grafton, London,
Margaret Thatcher discovered that it proved difficult to starve a particular group (The IRA in her case) of the oxygen of publicity, and it is debatable who should be denied such availability to the public eye and ear. There is one example however, where it is very clear that publcitiy should be denied.
"The Killing of John Lennon", represents just such a case - achieving for the murderer his exact intention, and encouraging future murder of "Stars" by the undoubtedly small, but ever present, proportion of the population whose desire for fame takes a psychotic bent. The producers are, in my eyes, virtually accessories after the fact.
Whilst I have campaigned against this film since its conception, I also feel disgust towards all who tacitly (or otherwise) support this perverse capitalist enterprise. I deplore all media outlets advertising this film, as your supplement has done today, but I have no doubt that the carbon dioxide of money will alway drown out the breath of sanity.
patrick graham, stroud, gloucestershire
It is a highly uninsightful rendition of Chapman, which says much about its exploitative producers (they are doing a Dennis Neilson bio next) than offering any us a vision of a deranged man. Its clunky psycho porn of the worst kind about a man who loses his grip on reality. Its far more 'phoney' than revealing. I left the cinema feeling angry at the events and cheated by the film!
alan, sydney,
I'm not sure I am recoverd enough - 27 years later, to relive this tragedy. Behind 9/11/01 this is the darkest day in recent history.
I'll see it, though.
Rick Snow, Tucson, AZ