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Fifty Years After Lost Weekend Former Lennon Lover May Pang Has Finally Found Herself
by Rich and Laura Lynch
A half a century ago in 1973 May Pang was a self described naive young girl fresh out of school and looking to start her life. A trip to midtown New York from her upper West Side home led May to the U.S. offices of Apple Corp where she applied for a job that she admittedly was under-qualified for. But, the Japan born wife to the company's resident rock star took a liking to her and she was quickly assigned to a role as a personal assistant to the Lennons where she soon began amassing production credits on a pair of their avant-garde films.
This scenario describes the whirlwind first five minutes of the new documentary film called THE LOST WEEKEND: A LOVE STORY that finally tells May Pang's side of the story behind the 18-month romance she would share with Beatle John Lennon in California and New York.
But, it wasn't always glamorous for May who experienced many growing pangs of her own as a first generation Chinese-American girl coming of age in Spanish Harlem. She always felt a bit of an outsider as "a minority among minorities". Throw in the fact that her father rejected her in favor of an adopted brother and it becomes clear that her formative years weren't necessarily easy. Her life as a young woman would become increasingly more exciting but no less difficult. Her boss Yoko would see to that.
Until that fateful encounter May revealed that her only real escape in life was music and it would only be a matter of time before Pang was playing a role in some of Lennon's most important songs. After Yoko took a liking to her she found herself on a plane two weeks later to London to organize the photo shoot and publicity campaign for "Imagine". Next up, her work on "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" was the nadir of her own political awakening.
THE LOST WEEKEND: A LOVE STORY made its debut in selected worldwide markets on April 13, 2023 as a Special Event. Further limited theatrical engagements began the next day. The revealing and compelling documentary, with never-before-seen footage, moved audiences at its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival last June, garnering both critical and audience acclaim. The film is produced and directed by Eve Brandstein, Richard Kaufman, and Stuart Samuels.
Billed as "a weekend that lasted 18 months and a love story that took 50 years to tell", THE LOST WEEKEND: A LOVE STORY explores the 18-month relationship (1973-1975) that John Lennon spent with May Pang, his Chinese American assistant turned lover (on Yoko Ono's insistence and which she came to regret). With May's help, Lennon reunited with his son Julian and had his most artistically and commercially productive period post-Beatles-with the albums "Mind Games", "Walls and Bridges", which included his only #1 Hit Single "Whatever Gets You Through the Night", "Rock and Roll" and collaboration with Rock legends Elton John, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, Mick Jagger, and Ringo among others. Pang chronicles it all revisiting her younger self, as a na ve 22-year-old experiencing her first unforgettable love.
THE LOST WEEKEND: A LOVE STORY uncovers long hidden sides to this tale of now legendary lore. This rock doc definitely did illicit moments of shock and awe as they were revealed. On the awe side - May's long-standing cordial and deep relationship with John's first wife Cynthia and his firstborn Julian. Shocking? That Yoko employed the help of a hypnotist to eventually win John back to her.
The film tells a different, more complex story from the perspective of May Pang, using newly revealed footage, new interviews with Julian Lennon and others. With private moments captured in photos that May and John took of each other, THE LOST WEEKEND: A LOVE STORY, shows us new, rare and intimate details in the life of John Lennon.
Related Links:
For more information on MAY PANG and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links -
The Lost Weekend: A Love Story |
May Pang
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