Imagine a world where no one knows the Beatles' music — except for a street musician. That notion inspired director Danny Boyle to create a movie featuring both a newcomer and a British superstar.
Image: Universal Pictures
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The basic idea of the film is original. The film "Yesterday" begins with a worldwide power failure: Everywhere around the globe goes dark for 12 seconds. Precisely during that time, the rather unsuccessful hobby guitarist Jack Malik rides his bicycle straight into a bus, which causes him to lose two front teeth and lands him in hospital.
When he regains consciousness, the world has been altered — at least in one fantastic detail. While lying in the hospital bed, Jack hums a catchy Beatles tune, prompting his manager and long-time girlfriend Ellie to stare at him in astonishment. But it gets even better.
No one knows the Beatles song 'Yesterday...'
Once Jack has left the hospital, he joins his friends at the welcome home party they've organized for him. Jack grabs his guitar and starts to sing the Beatles' evergreen "Yesterday." His friends are thrilled. How did he come up with such a great song? The lyrics, the melody, the simple yet ingenious arrangement?
Now it's Jack's turn to be puzzled. "Yesterday" — every child in the world knows that song by the Beatles! But then it becomes evident that no one knows the song and no one has ever heard of the Beatles. No "Let It Be," no "She Loves You," no once- in-a-lifetime album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." In fact, all the Beatles records have disappeared from the shelves, with no recordings and not a single picture of the four musicians to be found anywhere.
Jack (Himesh Patel) sings his girlfriend a seemingly "new" Beatles songImage: Universal Pictures
From nobody to superstar
That's the outlandish starting point of the movie — actually inconceivable, but also somehow charming. Director Danny Boyle sends his protagonist Jack Malik (played by Himesh Patel, familiar merely from a BBC soap opera) on an astonishing journey to musical stardom. Malik has only played his guitar in pedestrian zones and in rarely frequented bars, but now he is suddenly sitting atop a musical treasure trove of unimaginable proportions.
Yet he's embarrassed about it, too. He doesn't want to bask in someone else's glory. But because nobody wants to believe that there once was a very famous pop band called The Beatles who wrote hits like "Yesterday" and "Let It Be," fate takes its own course. Jack becomes a superstar, a brilliant songwriter who fills big halls with thousands of spectators.
He gets recognition and help from another well-known songwriter, Ed Sheeran, who plays himself in the movie. He must accept that there is an even more ingenious young man on earth who clearly has the gift of producing hits as if to the manner born.
5 guys who've been called the 'fifth Beatle'
The Beatles were a foursome, but these five people have been labeled the "fifth Beatle" at some point. They were producers, friends of the band - and one even has a very tragic story.
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George Martin - the inventive Beatle
In 1962, George Martin listened to the band's demo tape and, while he wasn't convinced about the quality of their performance, he liked their charisma. Martin offered the foursome a record deal and the rest is history. He produced almost all of The Beatles' records, which won him six Grammys. Until his death in March 2016, he was considered one of Britain's greatest music producers.
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Pete Best - the forgotten Beatle
He played drums with The Beatles for two years before he was thrown out of the band, never to have contact with them again. After the initial shock, Pete Best built a quiet, normal life for himself. He initially took a break from music, but came back in 1988 with a band of his own. "The Pete Best Band" still tours actively around the world.
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Stuart Sutcliffe - the lost Beatle
In the early years, John Lennon's college friend played bass with The Beatles. In Hamburg, he fell in love with German artist Astrid Kirchherr, who photographed the band during their concerts. She was the one who convinced them to try their iconic bowl cuts. In 1961, Sutcliffe stayed in Hamburg to be with Kirchherr, but he tragically died a year later due to a cerebral hemorrhage.
Image: Getty Images/Keystone/John Lennon
Klaus Voormann - the secret Beatle
In 1960, the graphic designer and illustrator met The Beatles in Hamburg. Since then, he's been a longtime friend and partner of the band. He designed a number of their record covers, including their "Revolver" album, in which he can be seen on the right side of the collage. In 1967, he won a Grammy for his design.
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Brian Epstein - the enterprising Beatle
Paul McCartney himself is said to have dubbed Brian Epstein the "fifth Beatle." As the band's manager, Epstein had the guys wear suits and ties, defined their look, and organized TV appearances and world tours. In 1967, he died at the age of just 32 of an overdose of pills and alcohol. His death marked the beginning of the end of The Beatles, who broke up three years later.
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Boyle takes music film over James Bond
Danny Boyle has a number of big films tied to his name. He became a cult director with "Trainspotting," a film that explores music and drugs, and his "Slumdog Millionaire" won eight Oscars. He also created a surprisingly critical cinematic memorial to Apple inventor Steve Jobs.
Boyle had actually been booked to direct the 25th James Bond film, but he had a falling out with the producers, and it's said that there were conflicting artistic ideas surrounding how to design the new "007" adventure.
So here comes another "little" film from Boyle about music and miracles, about English merits, provincial musicians and dreams of great success, along with a screenplay by Richard Curtis. The shooting of "Yesterday" was already complete when the cancellation of the new Bond movie came. Yet, somehow, a movie like "Yesterday" seems to fit this English director better and he once again appears to be in his metier.
Ed Sheeran's convincing performance as actor
The idea of reinventing the Beatles on the big screen is charming. The fact that this is successful is due above all to the performance of leading actor Himesh Patel, a young British actor with Indian and African roots, as well as that of Ed Sheeran. In "Yesterday," the musician is both personable and reserved, with the film allowing him to take a satirical look at his own career.
And of course the music contributes to the success of the romantic comedy film. Even though it's Patel singing the songs and not the four legendary "mop tops," some of the magic in this nostalgic pop music will likely come across to most of today's viewers.
Following its global premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and other screenings at smaller festivals in the US, 'Yesterday' opens in cinemas around the world starting June 26. It opens in US theaters on June 28, and in German theaters on July 11.
The Beatles in film
When The Beatles toured Germany 50 years ago, the "Fab Four" were the most popular musicians. They took their talents to the big screen, leaving behind a legacy documented in the book, "I saw a film today, oh boy!"
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A Hard Day's Night
Only through sheer coincidence did The Beatles made it onto the big screen. After United Artists wanted to make a deal with the band, the production company that owned rights to the musicians felt forced to offer them a film contract. Thus, "A Hard Day's Night" by director Richard Lester was created, a wildly successful mixture of documentary and movie that featured the band in their daily life.
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Help!
In 1965, Richard Lester shot his second Beatles film with the four members of the band. In contrast to "A Hard Day's Night," a fictional narrative in "Help!" focuses on an East Asian sect, human sacrifices and a ring that Ringo Starr cannot get rid of. "Help!" is still seen as slapstick entertainment, but never became quite as popular as The Beatles' debut.
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Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles completely took over production on their third film, which they also directed on their own. "Magical Mystery Tour" features their bus trip through the South of England. The film resembles a magical film experiment, rather than a conventional movie. Shortly before, The Beatles had released their legendary album "Sgt. Pepper," in line with the film.
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Yellow Submarine
A far cry from Disney aesthetics, the animated "Yellow Submarine" turned into an exciting stylistic film adventure. Director George Dunning and the four musicians from Liverpool created an experimental, unconventional, fantastic, and modern film miracle.
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Let It Be
Released in 1970, "Let It Be" was the very last Beatles film. In contrast to its predecessors, the documentary showed the musicians working in their studio during the get-back-session in January 1969. The film, solely concentrating on authenticity, does so without commentary or categorization, letting viewers witness The Beatles' creative processes.
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Wonderwall
Apart from the five famous original Beatles films, quite a few works were produced in which The Beatles played roles, or for which they composed the music even after the band's breakup. George Harrison wrote the soundtrack of "Wonderwall," produced in 1968. Although back then the movie was anything but a hit, it did attain cult status later on.
"Live and Let Die" is probably the most famous and successful film song composed by one of the four Beatles. Three years after the breakup of the band, Paul McCartney wrote the theme song for the eighth James Bond film. Together with his band, "Wings," he turned the title song into a world success. "Live and Let Die" was even nominated for an Oscar for best music.
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I am Sam
Beatles music also plays a big role in "I am Sam" by Jessie Nelson (2001). It tells the story of a mentally handicapped man named Sam who is raising his little daughter all by himself. The music of the Fab Four gives him a sense of orientation in a world in which he feels totally lost. However, the music of a cover band had to be used for legal reasons.
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Across the Universe
"Across the Universe" (2007) by Julie Taymor may well serve as a perfect example of how The Beatles music came to be used in a movie. The plot, set in the 1960s, describes the youth culture of the era. A total of 33 Beatles songs come up over the course of the movie; far more than just background music, they form part of the plot.
Almost three decades after the band's split, Paul McCartney once again provided proof of his extraordinary talent for producing movie soundtracks as he created the theme song for "Vanilla Sky," a psychothriller by Cameron Crowe, starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz. That song earned McCartney a second Oscar nomination.
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Water
More than the other Beatles, George Harrison developed an interest in producing films after the band had broken up. Harrison founded the company HandMade, which produced several films, including "Water" (1985), which tells the fantastic story of a Caribbean island where a valuable source of mineral water is suddenly discovered.
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That'll Be the Day
Every so often, one of The Beatles also acted in movies. John Lennon starred in Richard Lester's anti-war comedy "How I Won the War" (1967) and Ringo Starr acted in "That'll Be the Day," a British movie produced in 1973. In the latter, The Beatles' drummer convincingly plays a macho womanizer.
