In cinemas this week: Yesterday imagines a world where The Beatles didn’t exist

Imagine there’s no Beatles. It’s very hard to do.

But that’s exactly what director Danny Boyle does in his new film Yesterday.

The Richard Curtis-scripted musical comedy is set in a world in which The Fab Four never existed.

A global blackout means that no one remembers The Beatles except failed singer-songwriter Jack Malik, played by Himesh Patel, who finds stardom after claiming their songs as his own and being discovered by Ed Sheeran.

How hard was it to get the right to use the 17 Beatles songs that feature in the film?

“Apple and Sony are very picky about not only who uses the band’s music but how it is used,” says Boyle.

“The production company negotiated with them first, before I signed on, because there’s no point in spending money on a film like Yesterday unless you can guarantee you’ve got the music.

“It made for a top-heavy budget — the costs for the songs were very expensive, a substantial part of the film’s budget (it’s estimated that could be as much as $10 million).

“Once I got involved, I wrote letters to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and the two widows, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono, respectfully laying out what I intended to do with the film.

“There’s obviously going to be nerves that somebody could be triggered or upset. I know Paul a little bit, because of the Olympics opening ceremony, and I got really lovely letters from Ringo and Olivia. I can’t talk about it except to say it was very special for me.

“I was eight in 1964, when The Beatles exploded in Britain and America,” added Lancastrian Boyle, 62.

“Me and my sisters used to play being The Beatles. My twin sister loved Paul McCartney so she would be Paul and I would be John and my little sister would be George or Ringo — we didn’t care which one!

“The Beatles are a huge part of anyone’s life, and particularly in the north of England, where I’m from and where they come from.

“But what I stepped into naturally as a teenager was Bowie and Zeppelin. I felt like they belonged to me more.

“So my affection for The Beatles is based not on fan worship but on absolute appreciation of Abbey Road and the White Album — what I call the hardcore albums.”

Himesh Patel is terrific as Jack but is best known as Tamwar Masood in EastEnders, and Boyle admits: “It was a big risk.

“They had been pushing us to cast a name — with such a top-heavy budget, they were looking for as many reassurances as they could get.

“The big issue was, could we find someone who could present these songs in a way where they sounded strange but familiar, too?

“I’ve got to be honest, most of the guys who auditioned for Jack weren’t able to do that, to make the songs sound surprising.

“A lot of them were technically more accomplished than Himesh but when he came in it was like we’d never heard the songs before.

“Himesh makes no claims of being an exceptional musician but he had a natural aptitude and a voice that, for the songs, felt so natural. In fact, he led me to make the big decision that all his songs would be played and recorded live.

“When Himesh sings, it feels like dialogue, and if you wouldn’t mime dialogue, why would you mime songs?”

Yesterday (12A) is in cinemas from Friday June 29

Review

by Ross Crae

Bohemian Rhapsody and the excellent Rocketman have proved that films with soundtracks made up of classic songs from top-tier artists of yesteryear are a sure-fire hit.

And Yesterday should be as big as those two biopics – albeit its a biopic of a man who’s nicked The Beatles’ back catalogue rather than the Fab Four themselves.

For me, this film goes down as a very pleasant watch. It’s packed with charm and plenty of laughs from a great cast. There’s more room to explore what a world sans Beatles would be like, but that’s for another film on another day.

Yesterday is built on Himesh Patel, who is excellent in the lead role and has the vocals to do the songs justice.

Lily James is good too, as are the cast of assorted faces that you’ll IMDB after viewing and immediately remember the British TV show they appeared in.

And fair play to Ed Sheeran, he plays his more-than-cameo role very well.

There are a couple of stand-out moments that really elevate Yesterday above just being a whimsical musical rom-com and while the romance between the two leads doesn’t fully hit the mark, the true love story is with the music of The Beatles and how much it still resonates with people to this day.

Love is all you need, indeed.