The Concert for Bangladesh (1972)

This movie starts off with a real downer. Ravi Shankar and three other Indian musicians get set to play on their weird Indian musical instruments. But first, Shankar informs the audience that they must be quiet while he is playing, because this is the kind of music you have to concentrate on. And then he tells everyone not to smoke while he is playing. The audience is quite chastened, and they clap politely after the first number. But it wasn't a number. The musicians were only tuning up their instruments. But with that kind of music, who can tell? They could have played the wrong notes on instruments out of tune, and nobody would have known the difference. Once that is over, and the Western musicians start playing normal music, things get a lot better, especially when half the musicians start smoking, letting the audience know that Mrs. Grundy has left the stage, and everyone can loosen up.

After a bit of rambling about the reasons for the concert (which, it has to be said, are typically simplistic), George Harrison introduces Ravi Shankar to the stage. After telling off the audience for making noise and asking them to just be patient and concentrate on the music he is about to play (great way to sell yourself Ravi), he then asks the audience not to smoke and then launches into 20 minutes of music that I must confess didn't do a great deal for me. Perhaps I was just a bit off by him tell me (the audience) to pay attention to the point where he seemed to lack faith in his own music but I almost laughed out loud when he asked for no-smoking during the gig – was the bit where he told them where the fire exits were edited out of the film? Either way I mustn't have been patient or quiet enough because I didn't like Shankar's bit and was very grateful when he finished. He was followed by artists who didn't feel the need to apologise for or pre-warn the audience for the audience about the music they were about to play. At this point the music got better and I enjoyed it even if it wasn't that great. The appearance of Dylan at the end livened it up for me and generally the music was enjoyable but I was surprised, given this was a high-profile concert, that it wasn't actually that memorable.Of course the delivery of the film doesn't help it that much either though. The static cameras maybe feel a bit less hectic that some concert films but they rob the film of atmosphere, focusing on one person at a time with only a bit of zooming in and out to show that anyone is awake at the wheel. Occasionally we'll get a crowd shot but this is not the film to come to if you want to get a feel for the atmosphere at the gig. The "cast" are mostly very good. Harrison leads things well and he has good support from the various musicians with him, although the highlight for me was of course Bob Dylan's arrival near the end.Overall then, a reasonable concert film that is worth a look for fans of Clapton, Harrison and Dylan. The delivery of the film lacks atmosphere and, as has been said by others, isn't the nicest picture you'll ever see, but it is the music that makes up for it mostly. I didn't like anything about Shankar at the start (his attitude or his music) but after that things got much rockier and better, even if most of it wasn't that memorable.

George Harrison organized this 1972 Madison Square Garden concert, but Bob Dylan steals the show. Clad in a faded blue jean jacket, his pudgy face surrounded by a halo of tangled curls, Dylan looks like an Oakie and sings like one, too, warbling "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall," "Blowin' in the Wind," and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh" with a definite twang in his nasal voice. Watching him, I was reminded of the critics who insist that Dylan is always reinventing himself. In this film, it's hard to recognize him as the possessor of the contemptuous voice that rode "Like a Rolling Stone" to the top of the charts in 1965. Here he has reverted back to his pre-electric, pre-polka dot shirt days, and once again inhabits a persona reminiscent of Woody Guthrie. His appearance makes this otherwise grainy, unattractive looking film (shot in 16mm and blown up to 35), a cut above the usual rock concert film, although the finest moment is when George Harrison and Leon Russell join Dylan on the chorus of "Just Like a Woman."

This legend movie is specially with Harrison,Dylan,Russel and Clapton one of the concerts you must see.They are all in a good mood and if you want to see some history of pop music you will have to see this concert.