It recently occurred to me that, even as a very keen and longstanding fan of The Beatles, I had still not seen the 2019 "Beatles-themed" film 'Yesterday', directed by Danny Boyle. Anyway, I finally put this to rights, and thought I would offer a few thoughts on the movie.
The basic premise of the story is that Jack Malik, a struggling singer-songwriter, is involved in a traffic accident, following which he transfers to some alternate reality, an alternate reality where the music of The Beatles has never been heard. He then, in effect, passes off The Beatles' songs as his own compositions, and becomes a global sensation.
However unlikely and "frothy" the film is in its implementation, it does have its positives. The Jack Malik character is relatable and likeable, and these elements are well brought out by Himesh Patel's performance. Some of the other characters, especially Jack's friends, are likeable too.
This possesses many of the characteristics of the romantic-comedy genre, but with added surrealism and strangeness. As with many other modern movies, it contains too much CGI and "artificiality" for my own tastes, although I appreciate that not everyone is overly bothered about these things. When visuals start to become less organic, my interest wavers.
One of the (minor) issues I had with 'Yesterday' was the essence of the storyline. As a lover of the music of the Fab Four, I found it troublesome and elusive to grasp the idea, as The Beatles are so ubiquitous and pervasive in our culture and in my own psyche. That said, it is quite cute and touching to see the music portrayed as being heard for the first time.
The decision to base Jack in deepest Suffolk was a sound one, and makes this a bit different from other similar British films, which tend to be rather London-centric. Ed Sheeran's role wasn't quite as irritating and cliched as I might have suspected.
It is a difficult film to sum up; it is neither particularly hard-edged or excessively corny. "Quirky" is possibly a good term to use. Perhaps I should just learn to accept relatively undemanding culture on its own terms, rather than insisting that it should always say something profound or enlightening.....
