Images of Broken Light
Across the Universe kinda changes my world.
BY GREGORY
Disclaimer #1: I, Critic, sincerely love the 1978 movie Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band -- and it's only fair to admit that up front.
Disclaimer #2: Most Boomers annoy me.
Okay, you may wish to know if Across the Universe is any good.
Presuming that you've already skimmed upwards of a couple
hundred reviews, you probably already know that it's a clunky,
funky, highly-stylised musical journey through an iffy romance
against the backdrop of mostly-America in the 1960's set to firty-
free solid covers of Beatles songs spanning the band's entire career.
It stumbles as a love story (its glowing idealism neatly sidesteps the
obvious: that its hero is a violent jerk -- despite knowing who his dad
is! -- while its heroine is a cypher), and it bumbles as a story, too (its
many attempts to wring plot-coherence from the often very
whimsical songs rarely jell). The movie also reeks of that exhausted
Boomer credo that "we almost had a Revolution, man!"...but...
That said, I mostly liked Across the Universe, and I shall tell you why.
First and foremost, director Julie "The Loon" Taymor (Titus, Frida)
dares to be different! Mind, sometimes she blatantly "borrows" from
other artists (she may have a dual plagiarism lawsuit on her hands if
Alan Parker [Pink Floyd The Wall] and Dave McKean [MirrorMask]
happen to see her You're In The Army Now "I Want You" sequence)
-- but nonetheless, the woman is a visionary. Although this movie's
"plot" is held together rather tenuously, the main point is to bask in
mostly excellent Beatles covers in a stream-of-consciousness flow
through that turbulent decade I mostly missed -- and at this the film
is some sort of absurd miracle (or miraculous absurdity).
There are a couple of clinkers ("With a Little Help from My Friends"
reveals that Taymor knows little about how real boys behave; while
"Blackbird" blithely cooed by a privileged white girl is a totally wasted
opportunity), but these are a tiny minority, as most of the song
sequences are quite brilliant and even occasionally deeply moving.
The song sequences generally fall into three categories: Reality;
Abstract and Performance. Of the first, just about anything featuring
lead vocals from Liverpudlian wanderer Jude (Jim Sturgess) and his
college-dropout friend Max (Joe Anderson) is surprisingly strong
(note again that these people are covering Beatles classics); for the
most part, the naturalism and melody and movement flow very well.
Then we have the Fantasy segments -- which tend toward a desire to
illustrate for Generation Y (perhaps happiness and prosperity skip a
generation?) that The Sixties were Violent and Volatile (there's
literally a bleeding heart) -- yet Psychedelic and Fun, too! Of these
bits, "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" (despite the aforementioned
pilfering) and "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" (probably the movie's
most impressive, sultry, scary and freaky sequence -- Salma Hayek
fans, hold on tight) are the most impressive, edging toward indelible.
Then there's the lighter side, which mainly features game turns from
celebrity goofballs (Joe Cocker, Paul "Bono" Hewson, Eddie Izzard)
doing zany, colourful stuff amidst gobs of choreography, special
effects, or both (of these, Cocker acquits himself [himselves?] best,
"Bono" gets a giggle and a roll of the eyes [The Walrus he most
certainly is not], and Izzard is just plain old annoying: He ruins "Being
for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" by yammering a bunch of stupid asides
rather than just singing the song). As for the Performance bits, we
basically get earnest recreations of Janis 'n' Jimi via up-and-comers
"Sadie" (as in "Sexy" -- lovely Dana Fuchs) and "JoJo" (as in
"California grass"...despite the NYC setting -- smokin' Martin
Luther). The relationship of these two characters presents a far less
whimsical counterpoint to the primary romance, and deftly illustrates
the perils of Performance; I'm happy that they left it in.
My personal fave (although it doesn't quite top Siouxsie's version) is
"Dear Prudence" -- which features the eponymous character (new-
comer T.V. Carpio, who literally comes in through the bathroom
window -- no mean feat considering the height of that window!)
feeling an outsider (she's not only a lesbian; she's Asian!) whilst her
love-in live-ins attempt to coax her into the light -- good enough in
itself, but then the sequence expands into an anti-war rally, and the
mix of intimacy and upheaval put a lump in my throat; I loved it.
It would be easy (and lazy) to shred Across the Universe, and instead
I'm endorsing it: Even if you already know about protests and MLK
and psychedelia, and even if caricatured characters bug you (I have a
bone to pick with Jude for leaving the astounding Julia in Liverpool
for dippy little Lucy in NYC -- c'mon, did moving to New York
based on a crush do John any good?), this film is, like Sgt. Pepper's
three decades before it, daring. Even if I didn't already love the
songs of The Beatles or the luscious cinematography of Bruno
Delbonnel (Amélie, A Very Long Engagement, the next Harry Potter
film), I'd feel pleased by this strange and scintillating smorgasbord --
simply because it risks mockery, sidesteps it, and arrives, amidst
madness and horror, at a bold declaration of Beauty and Wonder.
Which is something the world needs -- possibly even more than Love.
Across the Universe
Entertainment Value: 12/13
Style: 11/13
Philosophical Insight: 9/13
~ Gregory Weinkauf, 13 September, 2007
Being for the Benefit of D.W. -- oh, and for Chairman Mao (heh!)
Across the Universe kinda changes my world.
BY GREGORY
Disclaimer #1: I, Critic, sincerely love the 1978 movie Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band -- and it's only fair to admit that up front.
Disclaimer #2: Most Boomers annoy me.
Okay, you may wish to know if Across the Universe is any good.
Presuming that you've already skimmed upwards of a couple
hundred reviews, you probably already know that it's a clunky,
funky, highly-stylised musical journey through an iffy romance
against the backdrop of mostly-America in the 1960's set to firty-
free solid covers of Beatles songs spanning the band's entire career.
It stumbles as a love story (its glowing idealism neatly sidesteps the
obvious: that its hero is a violent jerk -- despite knowing who his dad
is! -- while its heroine is a cypher), and it bumbles as a story, too (its
many attempts to wring plot-coherence from the often very
whimsical songs rarely jell). The movie also reeks of that exhausted
Boomer credo that "we almost had a Revolution, man!"...but...
That said, I mostly liked Across the Universe, and I shall tell you why.
First and foremost, director Julie "The Loon" Taymor (Titus, Frida)
dares to be different! Mind, sometimes she blatantly "borrows" from
other artists (she may have a dual plagiarism lawsuit on her hands if
Alan Parker [Pink Floyd The Wall] and Dave McKean [MirrorMask]
happen to see her You're In The Army Now "I Want You" sequence)
-- but nonetheless, the woman is a visionary. Although this movie's
"plot" is held together rather tenuously, the main point is to bask in
mostly excellent Beatles covers in a stream-of-consciousness flow
through that turbulent decade I mostly missed -- and at this the film
is some sort of absurd miracle (or miraculous absurdity).
There are a couple of clinkers ("With a Little Help from My Friends"
reveals that Taymor knows little about how real boys behave; while
"Blackbird" blithely cooed by a privileged white girl is a totally wasted
opportunity), but these are a tiny minority, as most of the song
sequences are quite brilliant and even occasionally deeply moving.
The song sequences generally fall into three categories: Reality;
Abstract and Performance. Of the first, just about anything featuring
lead vocals from Liverpudlian wanderer Jude (Jim Sturgess) and his
college-dropout friend Max (Joe Anderson) is surprisingly strong
(note again that these people are covering Beatles classics); for the
most part, the naturalism and melody and movement flow very well.
Then we have the Fantasy segments -- which tend toward a desire to
illustrate for Generation Y (perhaps happiness and prosperity skip a
generation?) that The Sixties were Violent and Volatile (there's
literally a bleeding heart) -- yet Psychedelic and Fun, too! Of these
bits, "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" (despite the aforementioned
pilfering) and "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" (probably the movie's
most impressive, sultry, scary and freaky sequence -- Salma Hayek
fans, hold on tight) are the most impressive, edging toward indelible.
Then there's the lighter side, which mainly features game turns from
celebrity goofballs (Joe Cocker, Paul "Bono" Hewson, Eddie Izzard)
doing zany, colourful stuff amidst gobs of choreography, special
effects, or both (of these, Cocker acquits himself [himselves?] best,
"Bono" gets a giggle and a roll of the eyes [The Walrus he most
certainly is not], and Izzard is just plain old annoying: He ruins "Being
for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" by yammering a bunch of stupid asides
rather than just singing the song). As for the Performance bits, we
basically get earnest recreations of Janis 'n' Jimi via up-and-comers
"Sadie" (as in "Sexy" -- lovely Dana Fuchs) and "JoJo" (as in
"California grass"...despite the NYC setting -- smokin' Martin
Luther). The relationship of these two characters presents a far less
whimsical counterpoint to the primary romance, and deftly illustrates
the perils of Performance; I'm happy that they left it in.
My personal fave (although it doesn't quite top Siouxsie's version) is
"Dear Prudence" -- which features the eponymous character (new-
comer T.V. Carpio, who literally comes in through the bathroom
window -- no mean feat considering the height of that window!)
feeling an outsider (she's not only a lesbian; she's Asian!) whilst her
love-in live-ins attempt to coax her into the light -- good enough in
itself, but then the sequence expands into an anti-war rally, and the
mix of intimacy and upheaval put a lump in my throat; I loved it.
It would be easy (and lazy) to shred Across the Universe, and instead
I'm endorsing it: Even if you already know about protests and MLK
and psychedelia, and even if caricatured characters bug you (I have a
bone to pick with Jude for leaving the astounding Julia in Liverpool
for dippy little Lucy in NYC -- c'mon, did moving to New York
based on a crush do John any good?), this film is, like Sgt. Pepper's
three decades before it, daring. Even if I didn't already love the
songs of The Beatles or the luscious cinematography of Bruno
Delbonnel (Amélie, A Very Long Engagement, the next Harry Potter
film), I'd feel pleased by this strange and scintillating smorgasbord --
simply because it risks mockery, sidesteps it, and arrives, amidst
madness and horror, at a bold declaration of Beauty and Wonder.
Which is something the world needs -- possibly even more than Love.
Across the Universe
Entertainment Value: 12/13
Style: 11/13
Philosophical Insight: 9/13
~ Gregory Weinkauf, 13 September, 2007
Being for the Benefit of D.W. -- oh, and for Chairman Mao (heh!)
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