Why Beatles' "I Am the Walrus" made "Bardo" trailer but not the film
Beatle John Lennon, circa 1967 and "I Am the Walrus"; filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu at recent L.A. "Bardo" presser.
Peter Howell
Movie Critic
At a recent L.A. press conference for "Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths," I asked director/co-writer Alejandro G. Iñárritu why the 1967 Beatles' song "I Am the Walrus" is in the film's trailer but not the movie.
With John Lennon singing cynical nonsense about his disaffection for modern life, "Walrus" makes a big impression in the trailer.
So why isn't it in the film, which is rife with anxiety about this world we live in?
"It was an after thing," Iñárritu replied. "You know, the trailer was done much after (filming), so it didn't have a place in the movie."
Did Iñárritu like the choice of the song?
"Yeah, I did actually. The trailer was done by Mark Wallen who always makes the trailers of my movie. He's great. But I proposed that song. Because that song, in a way, is a song that Lennon, you know, he was tired that people were always interpreting his lyrics. And he said, 'I will write a song that doesn't have nothing to do one thing to the other. And nobody can know, it's completely meaningless but it's beautiful.'
"And I found that my movie, in a way, to be like that. There's no meaning, necessarily. But you can interpret it whatever (way) you want. I love that song."
It's not just "goo goo g'joob," in other words. 🌗
Twitter: @peterhowellfilm
Daniel Gimenéz Cacho plays a Felliniesque version of director A. G. Iñárritu in "Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths."
Beatle John Lennon performing "I Am the Walrus" in a scene from the Fab Four's "Magical Mystery Tour" movie and album.