By Alexander Sink
February 15, 2025
There once was a time when the band that needs no introduction, needed an introduction and Jimmy Page’s brainchild had not yet been born. The new film “Becoming Led Zeppelin”, directed by Bernard MacMahon, does its best to take us there and introduce us to the men that made Led Zeppelin fly. The film opened nationwide on Valentine’s Day, after receiving a whole lotta love in its IMAX premiere the week prior. The film takes a deep dive into the days of the youth of four young men who would soon learn what it means to be a band. Through good times and bad times, they persevered over the total life of the band, but this film focuses only on their origins and first two albums. For those of you looking for drugs and scandal, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
It’s been 45 years since the high-flying rockers known as Led Zeppelin last played together, due to the tragic death of drummer John Bonham. It took the tenacity of director Bernard MacMahon to get the first and only authorized documentary of the band off the ground. MacMahon set out on this journey not knowing if the members of the band would even participate, but he felt that it was a chance worth taking. After months of digging, he was successful in locating long-lost Australian radio recordings of John Bonham, and soon after the three surviving members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones agreed to the project. Bonham’s wife Pat Phillips agreed quickly as well and provided ample photos and videos of the shy and elusive Bonham. MacMahon now knew that he could properly tell their origin story, just as Led Zeppelin had performed. A story told with one, united voice, with each member having their time to shine. Just as it was then, and always will be, Bonham is the heartbeat that holds it all together.
The film swiftly sets it’s foundation as the band members tell of growing up in the landscape of a dreary post-WWII England. A landscape that eventually evolved into the technicolor world of the 60s music and art scene, ripe with opportunity and innovation. From Jones’s performing parents to Jimmy Page playing rhythmic skiffle on TV, all four discuss the influences and friendships that led to their creative drives. For long-time fans of the band, there isn’t much new regarding Plant and Page’s childhood, if you have kept up with recent interviews and autobiographies, but there is plenty of new information regarding Jones and Bonham. Jones is always insightful and succinct, and his take on things is always entertaining. I’ve always been a big fan of John Paul Jones, so I found the interviews with him to be one of the highlights for me. John Bonham’s humility and shyness is refreshing and his contemporary viewpoint is invaluable. His narrative is fresh and frozen in time. A fifty-year echo that resonates throughout the theater, filled with love for his bandmates. The emotions of this echo are evident throughout the film. Several times the surviving three are played the Bonham audio and the emotion on the faces of all three is heartwarming. The love for Bonham in their eyes and the joy of hearing an old voice that had been mostly lost to the ages, is a feeling we can all relate to. Their love for John was certainly on full display while the cameras were rolling, and the film certainly is the better for it.
Over the course of the 137-minute film, there is plenty of fascinating information about the band, old and new, while the soundtrack leans heavily into the songs of the first two albums. At times the music felt a bit repetitious, especially during the debut album section. MacMahon may have been handcuffed by the footage he could locate, but it felt like Good Times/Bad Times and Dazed and Confused were played several times, both in the background and also in the live footage. I felt that there were times that the playlist could have been more diverse and also included more artists that influenced Page and his bandmates.
The film discusses Little Richard briefly and the skiffle playing of Lonnie Donegan, but no mention of big influences like Link Wray and “The Rumble” or Lead Belly’s “Gallis Pole”. No mention of blues greats like Otis Rush, Muddy Waters or Buddy Guy. Jimmy Page does briefly speak about Jake Holmes and his large “influence” on Dazed and Confused. This was the first time that I have heard Page talk about the similarities of the two recordings. Songs from these greats could have been used more to allow the audience to hear the influences for themselves.
The music and success of Led Zeppelin are tied at the hip to America. The rock and roll music that they created was heavily based in American rhythm and blues and folk music. Both are very free forms of music in their structure and sound, and this appealed much more to the American listeners than early British audiences. With the aid of FM radio, the band would take advantage of long tracks and full albums that really had no boundaries. Thanks to Jimmy Page’s foresight and abilities as a sound engineer, this was all possible. Page’s studio skills allowed the band to have full creative control. Something most bands don’t get much of, at all.
It took American musical influences and audiences to catapult the band from great musicians to rocking the hammer of the gods, but from there the band dominated the rock world for the 70’s and many would argue that they are still on top to this day. This multi-continent love fest will continue as long as there is a needle on the record player and ears to listen. This film celebrates this relationship with America, in it’s conclusion, and finishes by showing the love the band brought home with them, all the way to Royal Albert Hall.
In an era where the strive for recorded perfection has all but killed the spirit of rock music, it’s great to get back to a time where the music was organic, recordings were performances and rock and roll was dangerous. This film certainly allows the viewer to enjoy that feeling and we can all hope for more films to come.
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