BBC Arena - The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector (2008)

In a career stretching 50 years, legendary music producer Phil Spector has avoided a substantial interview - until now.
Spector transformed rock and roll, becoming the first music producer to be a star in his own right. He gave the world "Be My Baby", "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" and John Lennon's "Imagine", and soundtracked a generation. Accused of murdering 40-year-old Los Angeles nightclub hostess Lana Clarkson, his trial in September 2007 ended dramatically in a hung jury. The trial reopens in October 2008 and threatens to eclipse his musical legacy for a second time.
Taken from an exclusive interview filmed in March 2007, the film dissects Spector's songs from the perspective of his inner world, focusing a spotlight on a unique creative process that is, for the first time, explained by its author. Footage from his first trial provides a dramatic counterpoint to the unprecedented interview.
Legendary pop music genius, record producer Phil Spector created the 'wall of sound' behind some of the greatest hits of the '60s: "Be My Baby", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling", to name just a few. During his first trial Spector gives a rare freewheeling interview to Vikram Jayanti, filmed at his castle, seated before the white piano which he bought with John Lennon, for "Imagine".
Phil riffs on everything—his father's suicide, his loner status, the music industry, the Beatles, Tony Bennett, drugs, the media and much more. There is priceless 1977 interview footage of Phil alone in his mansion, talking about himself and playing acoustic guitar while singing, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling." Also, amazing audio of Phil's demo version of "Spanish Harlem" featuring only Phil on guitar and vocal.
"He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)" is one of the more obscure songs heard on the soundtrack and it encapsulates the paradox of Phil Spector: a catchy performance by the great girl group, the Crystals, with a message so dark, disturbing and inappropriate that it was quickly removed from radio playlists. Throughout we are reminded just how wonderful his musical legacy is, then your breath is taken away by his megalomaniacal pronouncements.
This is essential viewing for any pop-music fan and student of celebrity pathology. Spector, despite his immodest comparisons of himself to Bach, da Vinci and Galileo, is surprisingly entertaining, not simply the mad recluse with crazy hair that was seen during the trials.
He is exceedingly quotable, weighing in on the Woody Allen-Soon Yi Previn scandal: "I could have introduced him to a lot of women." His analysis of why Hitchcock's "Rebecca" is a better film than "Psycho" is priceless: "Psycho" is an "edit film," the same way Brian Wilson's classic "Good Vibrations" is an "edit record." Spector also discusses his collaborations with the Beatles—his John Lennon impression is amusing—and he insists that his production of the album "Let It Be" salvaged a mess, no matter what Paul McCartney says to the contrary.
During the first trial, Spector's attorney seemed to make a good case that, based on the forensic evidence; Clarkson killed herself—a defense that resulted in a hung jury. The second trial brought a guilty verdict and a sentence of 19 years to life.