The Beatles: Eight Days a Week review – fab four, fab film

Using rare footage, director Ron Howard puts us right in the audience in this exceptional account of the band on tour

Culled from more than 100 hours of rare news footage, fan material and the Beatles’ own personal archive, this documentary by Ron Howard about the early years of the band works on two levels. Firstly, it’s a meticulously researched account of an unprecedented global phenomenon. But perhaps more importantly, it places us right there, in the audience of tearful teenagers, for some of the gigs that changed music history. It conveys the thrill of discovery and kinship that electrified a generation. It turns us into giddy fans. A triumph of deft editing and extraordinary access, this is likely to be the most important music documentary of the year.