The Concert for Bangladesh is a concert film depicting (get ready for a big surprise) the Concert for Bangladesh. Orginized by former Beatle George Harrison at the request of his friend Ravi Shankar, TCFB was the first benefit concert in rock history, with all profits from the concert, movie and record going to help war refugees and famine victims in East Pakistan, which was attempting to become an independant country. Or at least that was the idea. Legal red tape prevented Harrison sending from the vast majority of the money until the 1980's!
But everyone's heart was in the right place. Harrison even attempted to reunite the Beatles, but Paul refused and John said he would appear only if Yoko joined him. Sensing that her precense might drive down attendance, Harrison declined, but did manage to get Ringo, Shankar, Leon Russel, Billy Preston, Badfinger, Eric Clapton, most impressivley, considering he was in seclusion at the time, Bob Dylan.
This would sound like a knockout concert, and it is fun, but the music is not much beyond pleasant. Part of the problem is that the backup band is far too big - three electric and four acoustic guitarists, a pianist, an organist, two drummers, and eight backup singers are too much. In a situation like this, less is more. There are also several mistakes (both Ringo and George forget the lyrics to their own songs) that indicate how quickly the concert was thrown together. For me, the highlight of the concert was George's encore performance of "Bangladesh", which is better than the single version and has some real sadness to it. I also liked Shankar's set of Indian classical music- the visual element really helps in watching the perforamance of this complex musical form. Dylan is better than expected and his voice is far less grating than usual. But it's a shame that Clapton only plays guitar and Preston gets just one song, while Russel performs a very long medly that ultimatley becomes tedious.
Visually, the movie looks better than most films of its type, with its 16mm photography unusually sharp. The movie also presents the whole concert, so you don't have worry about the stuff that you missed, as you do with Woodstock.
Despite its flaws, it worth noting that without this event, their would be no Band Aid or Live Aid- and the legal problems with the money is more an attack on goverment beurocacy than on Harrison. The concert gave a great many rock fans a social conciousness about the third world that they lacked before (except, of course, regarding Vietnam). Artistically, it's worth checking out for Harrison fans (and Dylan fans, I suppose), but you aren't going to want to see it more than once.
The Concert for Bangladesh (1972)