“When we went to test the picture, we found out that there are certain people who don’t care for it at all,” says the director. “However, it is extremely popular among others,” filmmaker Danny Boyle said of the scene, according to USA Today.
There’s a scene in “Yesterday” that is, to put it mildly, incredible. It’s even more incredible than the film’s already absurd premise, which is that no one remembers The Beatles — or that they aren’t the only item that has been unintentionally deleted from memory. The Beatles aren’t the only thing that has been accidentally erased from memory. Or even the fact that Ed Sheeran, after hearing “The Long and Winding Road” for the first time, compares himself to the composer Antonio Salieri, who lived in the 17th-18th centuries, at one point.
No, it’s a scene in the film that, if you’re a fan of the Beatles, will leave you with more questions than it will answer. Although this is a silly romantic comedy and jukebox musical, it shouldn’t necessary be dissected and examined for its shortcomings. But there’s something about the way this moment unfolds that strikes me as unlike anything else, and it’s worth pausing to discuss it.
It’s true that the moment in question has proven to be particularly polarizing among audiences who have otherwise embraced the picture. Recently, director Danny Boyle referred to the scene as “the Marmite scene,” describing it as something that “clearly divides people” in two.
“When we went to test the picture, we discovered that there are certain people who don’t like for [the moment in question]. “However, it is extremely popular among other people,” Boyle told USA Today.
It’s impossible to talk about what happens from here without mentioning some major plot points or spoilers. So let me to bring you to your knees, for this is surely nothing to be concerned about.
(WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD! If you don’t want to read SPOILERS for “Yesterday,” please exit now.
Several scenes in “Yesterday” are bizarre, but one of the most bizarre occurs after Jack (Himesh Patel) meets a pair of other Beatles fans who, miraculously, are still aware of the band they grew up with. They hand him a slip of paper with the words “this took a lot of digging” written on it.
Jack then travels to a beach house in a distant section of England, where he spends the rest of the summer. An elderly gentleman with long grey hair that reaches his shoulders and a pair of narrow, round glasses is waiting to greet him at the door as he enters.
There are a couple of reasons why you might be taken aback by this. There has been no mention of the scene in any marketing materials or elsewhere, save from mentioning that it is John-freakin’-Lennon, and Boyle explained that this was done in order to preserve the moment “pure.”
Boyle also claims that he delivered the finished film to all of the band’s surviving members, and that he received permission from Ringo Starr and Olivia Harrison, George Harrison’s widow, as well as from the rest of the band.
In the context of the film, it is also a pleasant surprise. In the absence of The Beatles, you could have predicted that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr would have never existed in their own right. Jack is also afraid that if he appears on “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” Corden will bring out the real Paul and Ringo and reveal him as a fraud, and that he will be exposed as such. However, the scene is a dream sequence, and the appearance of the Beatles, who are still very much alive, does not occur.
Robert Carlyle, who played in Boyle’s “Trainspotting,” has been revealed as the actor who portrays John Lennon, despite the fact that he was initially uncredited and kept under wraps by Boyle and the studio. TheWrap reached out to Universal for comment on whether the depiction of John Lennon was approved by his widow, Yoko Ono, but did not receive a response right away.
The actor is someone I know — and this was not the reason for casting him — but I was also aware that he was an admirer of John Lennon. “He knew more about John than any of us,” Boyle said in an interview with USA Today. “That was excellent because it reflected a correct reverence and respect, which was truly appreciated. The only thing he requested was that he not be given credit for the work… in order to avoid calling attention to it in any way other than through its existence in the novel.”
So, in this parallel universe, what exactly has John Lennon been doing with his life since he died far too young, aside from producing songs like “Imagine,” is a mystery. It turns out that he has been living happily since he was 78 years old. He travels the world and preaches about the importance of assisting others and doing charitable work in different countries. In addition, he stated that he had met the woman he wished to marry, but that things had become problematic. Could he be indicating that he encountered Yoko Ono again and that the two fell in love, but that they were unable to make it work because he was not a Beatle?
Upon his departure, he gives Jack some sound advise in the form of a third-act push that would be appropriate for any romantic comedy: he encourages Jack to win back the girl and do the right thing. He advises Jack to tell the woman he loves that he loves her, and to always tell the truth in his communications with her. And then Jack approaches him and asks for a hug.
In the event that John Lennon survived his assassination at the age of 40 and lived to be 80… and if I ever had the opportunity to meet him… I wonder what I would say to him. Paul McCartney dedicated a whole song to the subject (“Here Today”). Lennon’s music matured as he sang about fatherhood, marriage, and peace, but McCartney will long be known as Peter Pan, writing pop songs with the biggest singers of the day.
Any substantive information concerning John Lennon in his later years is left unsolved, much like many of the burning “Twilight Zone”-style questions you may have about a world without The Beatles. While performing “Yesterday,” he appears more like a generic symbol of peace and love, rather than the feisty and hilarious, mop-top child who can be seen in many films of John Lennon or the politically active, avant-garde activist that he would become later in his life.
According to Boyle and many others, the scenario is both respectful and a compelling image for Beatles fans all over the world, despite its controversial nature.
“Someone’s life has been robbed, and movies have the ability to restore him to us, if only for a brief period,” Boyle told USA Today. “It’s one of the things I enjoy about movies.”
The actor who played John Lennon, Robert Carlyle, has been mentioned in this tale, which has been modified to reflect this.