Unexpectedly charming, Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe is a wonderful low-key musical comprised solely of Beatles music and set against the backdrop of 1960´s Americana.
Jude (Jim Sturgess) leaves his girlfriend in Britain to find his US father; Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) loses her boyfriend to the Vietnam War.
Together with Sadie, JoJo, Prudence, etc. (all named after characters from Beatles lyrics) they find themselves in NYC during the height of war protests and drug counterculture.
Throughout everything, 30+ Beatles songs are woven seamlessly into the plot, as the characters sing them with the heartfelt conviction of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg; Taymor never exaggerates her direction during the musical interludes, which come complete with song and dance, and the result is something unique – the music never distracts from the story, and eventually, the music defines and becomes the story.
Three definitive highlights feature takes by Joe Cocker, Bono, and Eddie Izzard on classic material; Beatles diehards may crow at the liberties taken with the original songs (Izzard´s The Benefit Of Mr. Kite might be particularly difficult to swallow), but they´re handled with love and the tonal shift perfectly suits the film.
It´s quite a departure for Taymor, coming off Titus and Frida; but in the end, it´s perhaps her most perfectly-realized film.
One might call this a thinking-man´s musical, but there´s enough good here to delight just about anyone.
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