Across Abbey Road · Scene 15 of 21 · Album 10 of 13

15 2:09–2:20 Era 10The White Album 1968

“We’re misunderstanding everything that we see, but still this Guitar Gently Weeps”

The red gates of Strawberry Field, and a face half in sun and half in shadow.

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The Scene

Scene 15 · The White Album · 11 seconds · three shotsThe road ends at the red iron gates of Strawberry Field, and Mike stands with one hand on them, looking in. Then the half-lit face again: low sun on one side, shadow on the other, a honey-coloured Les Paul catching the light, on the line about a guitar that weeps. And on a doorstep, an old man in a flat cap and a young woman in white with long wooden beads share a record.

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The Story

The White Album came out on 22 November 1968: thirty songs, most of them written in India that spring, with a sleeve left blank on purpose. George’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” has a famous guest on it, playing a Les Paul. So Mike plays one here, his own, on the very line that names the song. The gates are the other thing he asked for, and the half-shadow close-up is the one he asked to see again.

Shot by Shot

  1. 1 · Strawberry Field · 2:09–2:12Tall red gates on stone pillars, the name on the plate, and Mike with a hand on the iron, looking through.
  2. 2 · The half-shadow face · 2:12–2:16A warm low light from one side, the far side of his face in shadow, eyes on the guitar as he sings.
  3. 3 · New listeners · 2:16–2:20On a doorstep an old man and a young woman lean over a record turning on a small player, and smile at each other.

What to Look For

You can’t miss itThe gates with the name on them, and the guitar in the low sun as he sings “gently weeps”.

Look closerThe young woman on the doorstep is dressed for India, where most of this album was written. And the record they are sharing has a plain pale label: the only white record in the film.

All 21 scenes