[If you haven’t seen “Yesterday” then stop reading this article. A key plot point is about to be discussed.]
There’s a moment in Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday” when its protagonist, Jack Malik, knocks on the door of an isolated beach house and a 78 year-old John Lennon (played by Robert Carlyle) answers. The alternate-universe that the film had set-up in it first hour paves the way for this unique moment. It only makes sense for Lennon to still be alive in a world where The Beatles never existed. There is no reason for him to have been shot by a celeb-obsessed stalker.
Living 38 years younger than he actually did in real-life, the Lennon in “Yesterday” feels less accomplished, less grandiose than expected. In fact, he seems to be living a mundane life, living happily but modestly. This is all concocted by screenwriter Richard Curtis as a way for the viewer to ask the question “was it all really worth it?”
Lennon’s presence is surprising and the scene quite fascinating, but it doesn’t bring much to the story beyond it being a heartfelt tribute to Lennon — as a singular entity, the scene is nothing short of a landmark, especially if taken as just a short film, which will undoubtedly happen once its 7 or so minutes are uploaded on YouTube. “Cinema, above all art forms, deals with and changes time.” Boyle told USA Today, “Somebody’s life was robbed and movies can give him back to us, just for a moment. And I love that about movies.” The decision to bring Lennon back from the dead has proven to be a divisive one as well , with the director admitting that he knows “some people that don’t like it at all,” and others that “like it enormously,” adding “we call it a ‘Marmite scene’ in Britain. It divides people very clearly.”
One important person who does approve is Ringo Starr: “We sent everyone the finished film,” Boyle said, “and we got a lovely message from Ringo and Barbara [Bach], and a lovely message back from Olivia [Harrison], George’s widow. I don’t think Paul’s seen the film yet but he saw and liked the trailer.”