The Beatles are one of our many British national treasures. They won the hearts of the baby boomers, conquered the world, fed Beatlemania, aided in putting Liverpool on the map and left us an entire legacy of hits. But what if they never existed? Or what if they did, but you were the only one on earth who remembered them? Well, whilst The Beatles and their back catalogue have been no strangers to the silver screen, Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle (whose work I love and who I share a birthday with, I'll have you know) have brought the music of The Beatles back to the film forefront with their movie, Yesterday which explores that very idea.
Yesterday explores a world in which, after a power surge, the population's memory of The Beatles is completely erased. Seemingly, the only person to remember and idolise them is Jack Malik, a passionate musician, desperate for a break out of his mundane day to day. Jack is played by Himesh Patel who many people would remember from UK soap opera, EastEnders in which he played Tamwar Masood. I have to add that Tamwar and his partner Nancy, were two of my fave characters so to see him starring in a major film was a treat. The film also stars Lily James and has other appearances from Robert Carlyle, Sarah Lancashire, Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, James Corden and Ed Sheeran who should be commended on his ability to poke fun at himself at times in the film.
With his new found knowledge that the world doesn't remember The Beatles (or Coca Cola or Harry Potter for that matter), Jack toys with the idea of passing their songs off as his own. If he can only remember them, that is. The film unfolds this narrative alongside mini strands such as a love interest between Jack and Ellie (Lily James' character) and a friendship/competitive streak between him and Ed Sheeran who plays himself but is somewhat shadowed by Jack in the music stakes.
Himesh performs the songs in the movie and clearly has musical talents which until this role haven't been demonstrated. I genuinely looked up whether or not it was him performing whilst I was still in the cinema because I was so shocked. The music element to the film is one that I loved. Obviously it's built around the songs of The Beatles but music is a key theme throughout and you can tell that Jack's character appreciates music and has good taste from his posters, record collection and the fact he Googles some of his favourites to make sure they too haven't disappeared off the face of the earth.
The film is a light, heart-warming typically British story based around one of our most celebrated groups of pop culture icons. Like all films of its sort, it has some of the cringe, the cheese and the over-sensationalised bits you'd expect but ultimately, it celebrates a bunch of classic anthems, has genuinely funny moments, exhibits a relatively new upcoming British acting talent and above all, makes you smile and be damn happy that a world without The Beatles is not one in which we reside. I loved it and it will definitely be one of those easy going films that I'll watch again and again.
Like The Beatles? Check out my blogs Britannia Rules the (Radio) Waves in which they feature and Solo Travelling - Living My Best Life in Liverpool where I explored their hometown and old stomping grounds.