Beatles enjoy cinematic revival

By Scott Bowles
USA Today

LOS ANGELES — The Beatles are about to get back — into film.

While the band's hits album "1" tops holiday shopping lists, the Fab Four will enjoy a cinematic revival of sorts: Their songs will be featured in three upcoming films.

Two Beatles songs are featured in "The Royal Tenenbaums," and Paul McCartney penned a new tune for "Vanilla Sky." Both films opened Friday.

Their biggest role, however, will be in "I Am Sam," a drama about a retarded father fighting for custody of his daughter. While researching the movie, director Jessie Nelson discovered a surprising number of Beatles fans among mentally handicapped people she interviewed.

"They knew their songs, knew their history," Nelson says. "They seemed to have a personal bond with the band."

Nelson was so moved by the connection that she uses The Beatles to soundtrack her film, which opens Dec. 28, and the band plays a key role in the story line. Sean Penn's character refers to the group in a key courtroom scene. And he uses The Beatles as a teaching tool for his 7-year-old daughter, played by newcomer Dakota Fanning.

Nelson, Penn and Fanning spent weeks at L.A. Goal, a center for people with developmental disabilities in Culver City, Calif. On a visit to the music room, they found the class belting out a rendition of "Baby You Can Drive My Car."

"So much of the music has a sing-along quality to it," Nelson says. "But the bond was deeper than that. If someone at the center wasn't getting along with someone else, they'd draw a parallel between John and Paul's relationship. It was an easy decision to make The Beatles part of the movie."

It wasn't so easy getting The Beatles on the soundtrack, however. Original songs are prohibitively expensive unless band representatives give permission for their use. Nelson sent her movie to McCartney and Yoko Ono, both of whom enjoyed it and gave their approval. But when she could not reach the gravely ill George Harrison, she decided to use contemporary artists to cover the songs.

She sent a rough version of her movie to Eddie Vedder, frontman of Pearl Jam and a surfing buddy of Penn's. He responded immediately with an offer to cover one of his favorite Beatles tunes from high school, "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away."

From there, major artists lined up to do the covers. The album, which hits stores Jan. 8, includes cuts by Sarah McLachlan, Black Crowes and Rufus Wainwright. A portion of proceeds will go to L.A. Goal.