Across the Universe
Kara and I just got back from Across the Universe. This is a musical-film not too unlike Moulin Rouge in concept. It is the story of the turbulent 60's (race riots, Vietnam war, drug culture, etc.) told through the songs of the Beatles. In one ad I saw the tag line was "In the lyrics of the world's best known songs lies a story that has never been told... until now." A fitting description. Across the Universe takes incredibly popular even ubiquitous Beatles songs that can seem sentimental to us young folk and puts them back in the uncertain times from where they came. So much more than a music video could, this film embodies the Beatles music, letting the lyrics rise from the people who sang these songs as if they were their own stories.
posted by Charlie at 12:16 AM
7 Comments:
What is your opinion of the movie though? Lauren and I had thought that it was going to be really good/interesting, but then I've heard TERRIBLE reviews. I think Ebert & Roper (spelling?) said that it might not even be releasable a few weeks ago!
We thought it was incredible. I can't imagine what anyone meant by "unreleasable." It was everything we were hoping it would be. It lived up to all of Kara's expectations and she's a CRAZY Beatles fan. I though the film itself was very well done. On par with or even better than Moulin Rouge, I would say.
Thanks, good to hear it!
Yeah, I read some negative reviews about lack of character development and cheesy-ness of acting.
I think the songs are to "blame" for that ... in all the good ways that it plays out.
Character Development = in a lot of ways, the songs dig into the depth and passion of a character that the dialogue otherwise does not. These become in the musical truly their words and emotions. If you expect character development in the inbetween times, you'll be sorely disappointed.
Cheesiness = most of these songs were POP in the 1960s. And as cheesy as pop love songs can be, some of these fit that vein. But others are deeply filled with social comment and musical innovation and lyrical genius. So, with the cheesy fluff songs comes some really deep stuff. (Wouldn't it be way sillier if they tried to act like the cheesy lyrics were actually deeply serious? It's acted just right.)
:) Loved it.
Ah. I'm so mad. They're not showing it in KC anywhere. They are however showing the new Wes Anderson movie at Tivoli which I'm pumped about.
Aww... Brandon, someone in KC listened to you and now, as we all know, the greater KC area is exposed to a great adaptation of the Beatles narrative.
I disagree with the notion that behind these songs tells a story yet told. Perhaps looking too deep and beyond a simple love story what I saw was a socio political artistic narrative of the late beatles.
Most songs (and I say most because I am going off simply what I heard without looking at all the selected songs) were chosen from the later beatles i.e., 1966 and beyond. The albums that make the most appearance, if not the only albums, in this movie are: Sgt. peppers..., Magical Mystery Tour, Let it Be, Abby Road, and the White Album.
As the characters in this movie develop and unfold they follow the patterns and lives of the fab four. This movie, I would say then, is a commentary that adapts beatles songs to retell the story of the Beatles themselves. A captivating artistic expression that retells a classic story. I personally would not pair it with moulin rouge as a romantic musical but would classify it as a musical allegory based on rock n' roll history that has been lost and washed away.
This movie was beautiful in my eyes not because it taught me about love but because it taught me about history and again, about the band I have fallen in love with.
Thanks for letting me rant and type WAY too much
~Jake
Jake,
I don't disagree that a lot of the movie reflects the lives of the Beatles themselves (or Jimmi Hendrix, etc.), but I understand what the tag line "In the lyrics of the world's best known songs lies a story that has never been told." is all about. They took a ton of Beatles songs and rearranged them to tell a story. In that sense you could do it all over again and get another similar but different story. The order you put the songs in and the characters you attach them to will create a new "hermeneutical spiral" if you will.
And I didn't pair it with Moulin Rouge as a "Romantic Musical" but said that it's style and concept could best be compared with Moulin Rouge, I was speaking of this new genre within the larger musical genre.
Post a Comment
<< Home