Across the Universe - Worth the Travel Time

Take a trip through strawberry fields forever, to New York City in the 1960's to discover what ties together the Vietnam war, one poor Liverpudlian, an upperclass American family and a small apartment in Greenwich Village. No matter what message you get from it, Across the Universe will not fail to impress.

Filmed in 2007, this is a story of love, loss and the struggle to see right and wrong. The world premiere took place at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10th, 2007. The film, directed by Julie Taymor, features thirty-four compositions originally by The Beatles and takes place in the politically turbulent mid- to late-sixties. It was nominated for the Best Motion Picture award at the Golden Globes and was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

Jude (Jim Sturgess), a young dockworker from Liverpool, takes a job hauling coal on a ship bound for America but, upon arrival, jumps ship in New Jersey to locate his estranged father, who turns out to be a janitor at Princeton University. Meanwhile, Prudence is introduced singing a melancholy “I Want to Hold Your Hand”. Jude gets more than he bargained for though, in befriending a soon-to-be Ivy League dropout, Max (Joe Anderson), and his pretty younger sister, Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Max and Jude move to New York, renting a room in an apartment owned by Sadie (Dana Fuchs), a local club singer. As the film progresses, they are joined in the Greenwich Village apartment by Lucy, who stays for the summer, Jojo, Sadie’s new guitarist, and Prudence, who climbs in through the bathroom window. The camera follows these main characters from New Jersey to Greenwich Village to a psychedelically painted school bus named 'Beyond.' As relationships develop romantically between Lucy and Jude, as well as Sadie and Jojo, the pressures of the ongoing war in Vietnam touch their lives more and more personally and they fight to assert what they believe in.

Though the plotline is difficult to follow at times, Across the Universe combines incredibly well-choreographed scenes (“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”) and the classic music of The Beatles to make for an experience reminiscent of a Broadway musical. This illusion is only contradicted by the surreal animations, such as in “I Am the Walrus” and “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite”. With easily likeable characters - like the carefree Max and radical Lucy - and an interesting story, this film does justice to the music of The Beatles, while staying true to the time period. It is, all in all, an easily lovable film that one can thoroughly get lost in.

With such a huge selection of tracks to choose from within the repertoire of The Beatles, those selected resonated powerfully within their respective scenes. The simplicity of "All My Loving," sung by Jim Sturgess, automatically warms you up to his character from the start. When I first saw this movie, I was skeptical of how successful the use of The Beatles' music would be, but the songs are integrated incredibly well into the storyline. The interpretation of each song is made very clear in its scene and fits very well with whomever was chosen to sing it. Cameo appearances are also made by Bono, Joe Cocker and Eddie Izzard, to varying degrees of success; but the so-so adaptation of "I Am the Walrus" by Bono is made up for tenfold with Joe Cocker's spectacular performance of "Come Together" and Eddie Izzard's "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite."

This masterfully arranged and artistic film is touching and uplifting. It just goes to show that, in the end, "all you need is love."