Across the Universe

There are only a few musical films that are included in my list of favorites. They are Chicago, Hairspray and Sweeney Todd. Disney movies/cartoons excluded.

I was keen on watching Across the Universe reading about its plot - love transcending boundaries. Mushy. Learning that it is a musical downplayed my interest. Still I gave it a try.

The movie was released late last year and so far has earned nomination for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for Golden Globe among other things. It features 33 of The Beatles songs, why wouldn't it be
nominated?

I did not grow up in the 60s (am a proud 80s child) but any music lover knows each generation's musical history. We have all The Beatles albums because my mother and my Uncle are big Beatles fans. I know their songs. Who wouldn't know John, Paul, George and Ringo in the first place. Plus Yoko Ono.

It's not surprising to note that the movie's leads are named Jude and Lucy. Think Hey Jude and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

I was transfixed to say the least with the MTV fashion some scenes were delivered. The opening scene caught my attention where Jude, alone in a beach front, sings Girl and a stanza after, cut to what seems to be a collage of several flashback scenes with Helter Skelter in the background. And then the story unfolds.

There is nothing much to say about the plot. It's wafer thin so to speak - Jude, a young man from Liverpool went to Princeton to look for his father he has never met in his entire life. From Princeton, he met the young and rebellious Max and they became good friends as they sung With A Little Help from My Friends.

Jude met Max's beautiful sister Lucy whose boyfriend was killed in Vietnam. Attraction ensued with the two which made Lucy sing If I Fell. But different priorities and beliefs seemed to tear their relationship apart. Lucy became so involved in anti-war movement while Jude, ever the artist stayed apolitical. They parted only to see each other again at the end of the movie with the song All You Need is Love.

There are subplots from the movie's bohemian group which also made use of The Beatles music. Aside from Jude, Lucy and Max, other characters include a Jimi Hendri-esque guitar man, an aspiring singer in the person of Sadie (who has appeared in a play as Janis Joplin), a lesbian named named Prudence. She's Asian. It's but right to cast an Asian in honor of Yoko Ono.

All of them, in my own humble opinion, would make John Lennon proud with their own rendition of The
Beatles songs.

Guest performances by music luminaries such as Joe Cocker and Bono of U2 give the movie a lot of credit. Salma Hayek was there too dancing herself away.

Another favorite scene would be Joe Cocker's Come Together playing three characters. The next is Strawberry Fields Forever with strawberries pinned to a white board with their red juice flowing like blood interspersed with scenes from war-torn Vietnam showing Max fighting it out as a soldier.

My favorite quote came from Max, "What you do does not define you. Who you are defines what you do". I remember Christian Bale's Batman Begins, "It's not who I am underneath but it's what I do that defines me". Different angst for different movie genre.

Hitting two birds with one stone, this movie chronicles the 60s generation as they battle through the Vietnam war affecting their relationships and also the leads' emotional and intellectual concerns.

I am not aware of the lead stars but I must say they act well, are all good looking and as if they know the songs by heart. Until now, I'm singing on my head the different Beatles songs highlighted in the movie.

This film is one hallucinogenic movie outing. There is a place featured as a background in one of the scenes which aptly describes the movie, "Psychedelicatessen". It is.

Don't take it seriously, feel the music, be moved when you are and
just enjoy the ride. As Bono's character said in the movie, "Either you are on the bus or off the bus".