Yesterday (2019)

A love story carried by famous songs, and not much else.

I remember watching the film Jean-Philippe, a 2006 French film about a man somehow transported to a parallel universe where his idol, Johnny Hallyday, never had a singing career. He then goes out of his way to find the would-be singer and bring him back to his rightful destiny.

Several years later, I saw the trailer for Yesterday. A pretty close initial setup with a twist (and the Beatles instead of Johnny Hallyday): the main character chooses to embrace fame for himself rather than looking for the original performers. This different choice appealed to me and I knew I would watch this film at some point. It recently popped up on Netflix, which meant it was time to cross it out of my to-watch list.

I have to point out I am not a fan of the Beatles. Not that I dislike them, more that I enjoy their music while knowing only a few songs, even fewer lines of the lyrics, and I could only name two, maybe three of the band members. And do not ask me which one left too early, I would miserably fail.

This must be why I went to watch it as a movie with the Beatles soundtrack in the background, and not as an ode to the band and their music. And what kind of film is it when you peel off the musical layer? A romance film. And that romance is what ultimately fails.

At the beginning of the film, I somehow felt close to Jack, the protagonist, in his luck to have a woman on his side, who supports his dream and pushes him to go forward, as my partner is the same to me, something I will always thank them for. Jack ignoring Ellie’s feelings for him, knowingly or not, marked the point where any perceived identification stopped. And as the film went on, his blindness or indifference to her love became more and more painful to watch. To the point I did not even feel sorry for him when she gave him up for someone else. The last third of the film, a concert where he uses the Help! song to indirectly ask her for help, followed by an Ed Sheeran concert where he finally confesses in front of the crowd, made me realise what was the matter with this character: the whole film is driven by his selfishness. He does not see Ellie’s love because he is self-centred, and exploiting the Beatles to the point of choosing his career over Ellie’s last call for love is the same. His love confession to Ellie in front of a full stadium, with her face on screen for everyone to see can be considered as a romantic gesture and him taking the plunge. To me, this was the epitome of social pressure for her to accept his love after she had chosen someone else, even if she was not the happiest, disrespecting the other man as well by having him witness the scene from the crowd.

What stayed with me about this film came a few days later, when I pondered why some elements fell in place so easily in this film. I had a few qualms while watching, which were about logic. The main character is transported to a world where the Beatles have not existed. By godly chance, he is a musician who plays both the guitar and the piano, who knows nearly every Beatles’ song, lyrics and score, so he knows them and how lovable they are. When Ellie asked him to choose between her and his career, he was indirectly speaking with his manager, who urged him to come back and work, saying this was his one and only chance to have a career. But if Jack had so much faith in the Beatles’ songs, whether it is with this label or later with another one, it will happen. So does he really trust the power of these songs?

Also, later, when two characters who remember the Beatles come to him: one found him in Russia and somehow is now in England; the other saw him in a city in England and magically met the other. And now they both thank him for bringing the songs back because they love them, and one says she cannot remember the lyrics of these same songs? There are other examples, but I realised it all came down to the writers taking shortcuts.

And this is what defines this film: lazy writing. Lazy writing to try to make sense of events, circumventing the rules of reality (Jack makes the songs free for everyone in the end, but didn’t he sign a contract for these songs? And he gets off scot-free?) so in the end, the story gets to the point it could have reached sooner, were the main character less self-centred or aware of others’ feelings.

If I were a fan of the Beatles, maybe my takeaway from the film would be to remember how the Beatles are an important part of the global culture, how their songs are lovable and will be for a long time. When I understood this film is about romance when you look beyond the music homage, I wanted to like it. I got a thin film leaning on great songs.

Next Sunday evening, I will be watching a Christmas romance, The Knight Before Christmas.

-- from the Evening Notes