The Concert for Bangladesh
The Concert for Bangladesh
G | 23 March 1972 (USA)
The Concert for Bangladesh Trailers

A film about the first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise relief funds for the poor of Bangladesh. The Concert for Bangladesh was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.

Reviews
Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Neil Welch The world was suffering Beatle withdrawal symptoms. Despite the fact that individual Beatles were coming out with solo albums like someone shelling peas, the magic had somehow gone. With the wonderful gesture of the Concert for Bangla Desh, George Harrison took a big step towards generating some substitute magic (having already gone some way towards that with the majestic All Things Must Pass album).The Beatles had broken new ground in so many ways during their career, and now George chalked up another first - the first major all star multimedia benefit event.And it didn't hurt that the music was pretty good, either.Yes, it was a surprise to everyone that Dylan turned up and knocked out a short set (I'm not a great Dylan fan, so it didn't do a lot for me) but, to me, the highlight was hearing George doing a sprinkling of Beatles songs which sounded very unlike what I was used to (in those pre-bootleg, pre-Anthology days).And, I understand, a splendid time was guaranteed for all.
dromasca The concert for Bangladesh was one of the most important concerts in the history of the rock music. Not only was it a gathering of first rate stars like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton or Ravi Shankar, but it signaled the start of the political involvement of musicians through the commercial power of their music in the benefit of big humanitarian causes. The example of Harrison was followed by scores of other musicians, and many events from the concerts for Etiopia in the 80s until the recent world wide events for ecological causes find their origins back there.For these reasons a film to describe how this concert was organized, how artists responded and why some (including Paul McCartney and John Lennon) did not respond, and also maybe some of the eventful history of the concert film and disk in the years that followed the concert would be very interesting. It is not this film. We scarcely get maybe two minutes of background and the rest is the concert itself. Yes, there is a lot of splendid music going on including probably the best version of 'When the guitar gently weeps ...' ever done with Harrison and Clapton, but overall the filming of the concert is not very inspired, and the sound caption is mediocre. The real documentary about this moment in the history of rock and rock artists engagement in important causes is still to be made, making use of material from this film.
Baldrick44 This is the first large-scale benefit gig of its kind ever attempted in the world and there are many things about it that set it apart from Live Aid and Live 8- both great events in their own right but different. The Concert for Bangladesh has a much more intimate feel, and it seems to grasp the optimism of the 1960s at a time when the optimism seemed to be dying out. The atmosphere is also more of a band atmosphere, rather heaps of bands one after the other, which I prefer. In fact, in many ways it would be preferable to compare this to the Last Waltz- another live show with a continuous band with guests coming on and off.But to say that this has a 'band' atmosphere doesn't do justice to the musicians who turned up at the last minute to perform- Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Ravi Shankar as well as Geoge Harrisson all lend their talents to the cause and make it a truly unforgettable night.Highlights are many, and if anything it's the tightness of the concert that makes it so good. If Live Aid and Live 8 have a fault it is that it has a few songs ( and bands ) that lie in the periphery of mediocrity. The Concert for Bangladesh though is a tight 100 minute set with the best of George Harrisson's songwriting there for all to see.Overall the concert for Bangladesh gives the quiet Beatle the chance to really strut his stuff for a good cause, and as he jams with Clapton on While my Guitar Gently Weeps or reassures with Here Comes the Sun or is pouring his heart out with Something or is singing with Dylan on Just Like a Woman or is writing a real protest song in Bangla Desh it makes you wonder if he was really given his due in the Fab Four.
sherlock-17 I thought all the entertainers were excellent. Bob Dylan was good, but really George Harrison was the best of all by along shot. His persona, his songs, his sincerity was by far the highlight of Bangladesh. George will always be remembered as a wonderful entertainer who cared more than most. Yes George Harrison in my view stole the show(it wasn't even close).