March 2020 : Ready to use movie – Yesterday (12)

CLIP: 00:08:05 – 00:16:14

Synopsis

In Lowestoft, Jack Malik is a frustrated musician whose musical career is going nowhere despite the faith that his friend and manager Ellie Appleton has in him. However, on the night Jack decides to give up, the whole world is momentarily hit with a massive blackout and Jack is hit by a bus. Upon regaining consciousness, Jack learns to his astonishment that he is now the only one who knows the music of The Beatles. Realising this improbable opportunity, Jack begins playing the music of the greatest of rock bands, claiming it as his own. It pays off quickly and Jack becomes a worldwide musical sensation. However, Jack finds himself drifting away from Ellie, only realising his love for her when she has become intimidated by his success, which depends on blatant, but undiscoverable, plagiarism. Now, Jack must make a decision about his music to satisfy his conscience as he decides what he truly needs.

Starring an excellent British cast and even including an acting performance from Ed Sheeran (playing himself, which is more difficult than it sounds), Yesterday is a film about desire, temptation, failed dreams, love, music, and everything else in between.

The clip begins with Jack making his way home after another unsuccessful performance. After declaring to his manager that he is giving up his musical career Jack is hit by a bus during a global blackout. Upon waking Jack is nursed back to health by his friend Ellie. After leaving the hospital and having an interesting conversation about whether his accident was a message from God or not, Jack plays the song ‘Yesterday’ for his friends. Jack is taken aback when he discovers that no one knows who the Beatles are. If you want to follow the plot along and see the point where Jack decides to claim The Beatles songs as his own, watch the film until 00:20:54.

Discuss

After showing the clip as a stimulus, break into small discussion groups (you may wish to have a designated discussion leader in each group) and discuss the following questions – if you wish to depress yourself, start by asking how many of your young people have heard a Beatles song before:

•How would you feel if you were Jack in this situation?

•What would you like to wake up to discover has disappeared from our world?

•Have you ever been tempted to claim credit for something that isn’t yours?

•Why is music so important to so many people?

Read Genesis 25:19-34 and Genesis 27 together. If pressed for time you could summarise the story of Jacob and Esau. Once this has been completed, return to your smaller groups and discuss the following questions:

•Was Jacob wrong to claim something that wasn’t his?

•Do you think that Rebekah was wrong to have a favourite?

•What do you think will happen next to Jacob – does he need to be reconciled with Esau?

•Does God reward those who don’t deserve it?

Yesterday is now available to purchase and stream on Amazon Prime Video.