MOVIES: Across the Universe

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I thought it was great. I’m a big beatles fan though. It had some great covers of the original songs, and a pretty good story behind it. Of course it had a kind of hippy-anti government-pro homosexuality etc. viewpoint.
 
Loved it. But I’m a Beatles fan too.

Pluses:
  1. took a series of Beatles songs reflecting their stages of development and wove them into a plausible storyline.
  2. casting was great. character development was present (though ‘a little help from my friends’ was cheesy).
  3. by naming characters from the songs themselves the songs were listened to and viewed in context. This made a big difference for me. I’m naive, so ‘happiness is a warm gun’ was a big ‘aha’ moment for me…tying it to returning vets was a fair depiction of how the problem got to be so big.
  4. story plot tied to the war/civil unrest did help put the songs the Beatles wrote at the time in perspective. I was too young at the time to appreciate it (particularly “Revolution”). I really appreciated “Something” because I could feel the ‘I don’t want to leave her now’ dilema Jude was in. Listening to the song by itself never made sense to me that anyone would want to leave if he loves her so much, but the tension building up to that point in the movie was palpable and finally that line made sense.
  5. loved the costumes. I thought it captured the time well, especially at the producer’s party.
  6. no real sex scenes, thankfully, but enough nudity to make up for that.
Minuses:
  1. partial nudity, but hey, it was the 60s.
  2. I’m sure catholics will take issue with the priest in the hospital ward, but in context, I still think it made sense.
  3. obligatory ssa character portrayal, fortunately, not done over the top.
 
Depends upon the girl. Is she a fan of the Beatles? Does she already know about the crazy path they took in their musical development?

Across the Universe is a film which strings a collection of Beatle’s songs into a storyline to give a clearer meaning of the lyrics to those songs.

The official trailer is available on YouTube. That clip pretty much covers the intensity of the film. It should help you decide whether or not it’s appropriate for the girl.

I loved the film myself, as did my 17 year old daughter, but we’re fans and I did have to explain some of the scenes to help her put it in perspective.

Trouble spots for those under 18:

“Girl” is sung by a teen cheerleader Prudence about another girl on the squad (unrequited love). She leaves her small town after that to land in New York.

“Happiness is a Warm Gun” depicts vietnam vets in a hospital strung up on heroine (the warm gun here is the needle)…sexily clad nurses dance and drive a tossled priest out of the room.

Jude is an artist who sketches his girlfriend, Lucy, a lot. One scene has him sketching a very partially nude shot (upper torso).

Closing credits is the only time “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is played and it shows the actors swimming (almost nude but not completely).

The story itself makes sense and in context the above scenes work without offending, but again, I think that’s if one appreciates the time period the Beatles composed these pieces and the Beatles themselves. It’s based on the tumultuos 60s, race riots, vietnam war protests and the commune pyschedelic drug scene.

Acting was good. Singing was great. Camera work fine. It’s on my list to buy when it comes out on DVD.
 
Don’t know about the movie.

Your blog is excellent, however. I’m old (54) and married, but is that what girls your age think about so much (guys)? I never knew it then.
 
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