Beatles in Film Tribute: My 5 Favorite Uses of a Beatles Song in Film

Beatles in Film Tribute:  My 5 Favorite Uses of a Beatles Song in Film

This week saw the release of a Special Tribute Edition of Rolling Stone Magazine featuring their selections for the top 100 Beatles Songs to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of the Fab Four's final album.
The selections- of course- were not without controversy (I Wanna Hold Your Hand at #2?  Really?  The Backstreet Boys have written more intellectually compelling narratives).  The top five Beatles songs EVER, according to the editors of Rolling Stone Magazine, include "In My Life", "Yesterday", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "A Day in the Life".  (See the Complete List preview here).
Did Rolling Stone get it wrong?  Of course they did- here are the Official Alone in the Dark Top 6 Beatles Songs of All Time.


Beatles - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
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1.  "Here, There, and Everywhere"
2.  "In My Life"
3.  "Yesterday"
4.  "Something"
5.  "I've Just Seen A Face"
6.  "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away"

The list got me to thinking about amazing song moments in cinema that have either fundamentally moved me or whose inclusion was imperative to the direction of the narrative- think Peter Sarstedt's "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely?) in the Hotel Chevalier.



More specifically, it forced the question- what are the greatest uses of a Beatles song (original or cover) in a film?  Beatles songs are notoriously difficult- and expensive- to get licensed for use in films; as a result, you tend to only find this rather substantial catalog of pop delights employed in the noble pursuit of Nike's customer demographic. 

The criteria was to exclude actual Beatle's films (i.e., Hard Days Night) or Beatle's tribute films (Across the Universe) to focus on those elements of the Beatles canon that appear- in any form or length- in great films for great reasons.  I was surprised to recall so many...but here are my favorites.

5.  "Yesterday"- from Once Upon A Time in America (Instrumental)




An orchestral version overlays the poignancy of an aging mobster's return to the haunts of his youth in 1968 New York- in arguably DeNiro's second best mirror scene of all time.


4.  "Across the Universe"- from Pleasantville (Fiona Apple)





A haunting cover of the Lennon ode to Transcendentalism by the vastly underrated Fiona Apple which is on par- or better- than the original. 



3.  "Honey Pie" - from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Isaach De Bankole)







For spoiler purposes, I refer you to the trailer for the amazing vision of  director Julian Schnabel and arguably the world's greatest cinematographer, the Polish giant Janusz Kaminski.  
One of the most heartfelt moments of the beautifully crafted biopic of Elle fashion editor Jean-Dominique Bauby's remarkable final years in the struggle with maladie de l'emmuré vivant, gently sung by the great Ivorian character actor Isaach De Bankole.  Sometimes, a song is the best way to say good-bye.



2.  "Twist and Shout" from Ferris Bueller's Day Off (The Beatles)


Ferris Bueller- Twist and Shout from TCM


Because its Ferris Bueller atop a German parade float instead of being in class...and because you know you can't think of anything better to do, Cameron.  



1.  "Hey Jude" from The Royal Tenenbaums (Orchestral)




Perhaps the greatest McCartney song accompanying perhaps the greatest film opening of all time.