Totally Focused on “Across the Universe”

posted under: Movies, Music, Totally Focused on Sunday, June 15, 2008

Totally Focused:
Jude, a working class young man from Liverpool journeys to America in search of his biological father. His search ends in disappointment in Princeton University where he meets Max, a new friend with a wild side and a desire to drop out of school. Max’s sister, Lucy, a young, sweet girl who’s first love will soon be lost to Vietnam is the obvious love interest for Jude.

When I first watched this movie I really loved the music, the cinematography was brilliant with vibrant colors and a type of stylized animation that I haven’t seen anywhere else. But the one thing I couldn’t get over was the lack of deep character backgrounds and the reason we are following their stories. Though the acting is superb I didn’t understand why I should believe in any of these characters. This is a movie told in 1960’s of 6 characters with intertwined stories who sing fab four songs. Of course it’s not supposed to be realistic but I found it hard to ignore the somewhat contrived plot points that link their tales together.

Then I rewatched it and listened to the commentary and realized it’s not really about the characters. It’s simply a movie about a generation, the generation of the 60’s which started innocently enough but was quickly turned on it’s head with the war in Vietnam. The ignorance and naivete of what the war was to become is what makes this story a hard one to tell, especially in musical form. Reality soon sets in when tragedies of the war are introduced into American’s living rooms through their television sets. Kids are dying and loved ones are being drafted.

An innocent and lovable Max, now a college dropout, is selected for the draft and forced to bring “liberty” into Vietnam (Through amazing cg, the troops literally carry “Lady Liberty” on their shoulders through the jungles). With a rifle in hand and a look of constant fear in his eyes, the boy who we drank beer with, got high with and went bowling with, is now a man with blood on his hands.

With her brother at war, Lucy gets caught up in the revolution. Though she once told her mom the big bad city would never get her, well all knew she would get eaten alive. Jude, a now budding artist, is in the awkward position of having his best friend in a war he doesn’t want to be in and at the same time feeling he doesn’t belong with the revolution and the protests. He doesn’t live in fear of being drafted as he’s not American.

You know a musical exclusively made up of songs from The Beatles will be a fun and interesting one. The songs are used in loads of interesting ways spanning multiple musical genre’s of the time period which really helps the songs sound original and fitting to the story. But really the star of the movie is the special effects. From the first minute you know that you’re not watching a typical movie when you see the ocean’s waves crashing onto the shore with projections of the war that lies ahead while Jude sings “Girl” directly into the camera.

Totally Watch It:
This is a historical, dramaticised musical told through the eyes of the 60’s generation with a beautiful style of animation and compositing that is so fluid and abundant that this movie stands out from any other musical I’ve seen. There is no lack of great acting and you might be surprised to know that most of the movie actually contains live singing from the actors which adds a more natural performance. The choregraphy is based on realistic movements so it feels more like a movie than a musical. That being said, If you love musicals, The Beatles and amazing CG, you’ll enjoy “Across the Universe”. Notable performances by Bono and Eddie Izzard and Joe Cocker. Favorite extras were of Eddie Izzard’s alternate takes of his “Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite” performance.

Recommended if you Totally Enjoyed: Moulan Rouge, Frida, Forest Gump