Across the Universe

Across the Universe is a very specific kind of film: love it or hate it. I love it, flaws and all. Yes, there’s barely anything close to resembling a plot. Yes, the songs are often depicted as literal translations. But, I find the entire experience to be loads of fun and joyous. It brings a smile to my face, and leaves a song in my heart. There’s power in a cliché if it’s employed correctly and with some originality.

I must say this right here and now: I love Julie Taymor. I think she’s a complete and utter visual genius. Her stylistic choices are amazing. The “Benefit of Mr. Kite” sequence adds nothing to the plot other than telling you what happened to Prudence, but it’s stunning to behold. The puppetry, the collages and use of visual effects are great.

The cameos are always intruiging: Bono, Eddie Izzard, Joe Cocker and, my favorite, Salma Hayek (times five). And the main cast delivers on the dramatic front and on the musical. Jim Sturgess, hello cutie!, sounds like the fifth Beatle and is highly charismatic. Evan Rachel Wood trades in her normal bad-girl persona for the good-girl-radical and has a pleasantly surprising power pop-rock girl voice. And they're just the leads.

It's not perfect, but Taymor's trip-tastic love poem to the Beatles, the 60's and the bohemian/flower-power artistic scene is uplifting and wonderful. Even if it's far from perfect. I hope you'll fall in love with it as much as I did.

Comments

No comments for this entry have been posted

Added by JxSxPx 1 year ago on 8 September 2008 01:13