Across the Universe and Onto the Screen
No matter what generation and no matter what age we all know and love a little band called “The Beatles.” The Beatles have touched our hearts with their amazing lyrics and their methods of relating to their listeners in profound and thoughtful ways. Across the Universe is a fictional love story set in the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, the struggle for free speech and civil rights, mind exploration and rock n’ roll. From its first moments, when a solitary dreamer on a beach turns to the camera and sings, unaccompanied, the opening lines of the Beatles’ song “Girl,” Julie Taymor’s 60s musical fantasia reveals its intention to use the Beatles’ catalog to tell two stories at once: one personal, the other generational. That young man, Jude, played by Jim Sturgess, is a cheeky Liverpool dockworker with a twinkle in his eye who later falls in love with a young girl named Lucy played by Evan Rachel Wood. He leaves his home, his mother, and his old girlfriends to find his estranged father who left him and his mother before he was born. He quickly emerges as a winsome vocal composite of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with a personality to match. Jude heads off to Princeton University to find his father thinking he is a professor at the university but, to his surprise,
turns out to be the janitor. He reveals his motives to his father and lets him know that he is there so they would both know that the other one existed. He later meets a troublesome young man, Max Corrigan (Joe Anderson) who happens to be Lucy’s brother. The two siblings come from a privileged and wealthy family but in their hearts are still finding themselves and want to branch out. Before Jude travels to America, Lucy’s longtime boyfriend Daniel gets shipped off to Vietnam with no hope of return. Now with a broken heart Lucy decides to travel to Manhattan with Max and Jude in hopes of breaking out of her usual mold. The romance between Jude and Lucy ensues when they arrive in a New York City bowling alley and the famous song “I’ve Just Seen a Face” begins. When looking for a place to stay, Jude and Max come across a house owned by an aspiring singer, Sadie, played by Dana Fuchs. As time passes the little dysfunctional family grows with lost souls having no place to go but find acceptance with each other. These include T.V. Caprio as Prudence the misunderstood troubled young woman, and Martin Luther McCoy as Jojo, the dashing guitar player who finds the only sense in the world in music.
Ani Minasyan Opinion Editor
Trouble brews when Max gets a letter from the army drafting him for the war and he has no choice but to go no matter how many clever plans he concocts. Lucy becomes deeply involved in the cause of the war and begins protesting. The romantic troubles begin when Lucy’s involvement in the cause threatens to tear her and Jude apart. This tale of romance and the revolution in society is sure to warm the hearts of many a generation. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants enjoy a love story, a generational revolution, and an unforgettable musical featuring the songs of the musical legends, the Beatles.