Synopsis

The video presents "Real Love" as a reunion across time. Footage of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr recording together in 1995 is intercut with archival images from The Beatles' career, including performances, candid moments and scenes with their partners. John Lennon appears through historic film and carefully integrated close-ups, linking his original demo to the later recording. The result is a reflective portrait of friendship, shared history and the band's renewed creative connection.

Factoids & Trivia

• The contemporary recording footage was shot in February 1995 at Paul McCartney's studio in Sussex. A handheld camera was used so the three musicians would not become overly conscious of being filmed.

• The video combines 1960s archive material with newly filmed scenes from Liverpool and London. The piano sequences were shot around the Mersey and the Liver Building, while the Abbey Road crossing also appears.

• The slow-motion portraits of McCartney, Harrison and Starr were filmed on 35mm at 500 frames per second. The opening "broken" portraits were created in post-production by repeatedly cutting through footage from the "A Day in the Life" promotional film.

• John Lennon's presence was extended beyond the original demo by using archival footage in which he mouths the words "real" and "love." This allowed him to appear alongside the surviving Beatles without placing him into newly filmed situations.

• Two versions were produced. The first was broadcast at the end of the second episode of The Beatles Anthology in November 1995; the more widely circulated version, later included with the Anthology DVD, adds footage of the Beatles with their spouses.

• "Real Love" was first publicly heard on November 22, 1995, before its single release on March 4, 1996. It was the second posthumous Beatles recording built from a Lennon home recording and completed by McCartney, Harrison and Starr.