This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 7:00 am and is filed under A, Drama, Movie Reviews, NEW ON VIDEO, Romance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Director: Julie Taymor
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther, T.V. Carpio,
Julie Taymor’s vision, as well as her creative and dynamic, movement-oriented direction, certainly make this an artistic piece of cinema, that is helped by a talented, but largely unknown, cast. For my part, however, I find that the psychedelic, abstract imagery gets ponderous about halfway through. The film is an energetic musical that tells its story with Beatles songs, sung by the cast, both stars and extras, who often have such prominent scenes that I wondered if some cameos were flying over my head right beside most of the symbolism. The choreography is unique and the overall effect here is impressive.
The story, here, is set against the violence, pain and uncertainty of the 1960s and Jim Sturgess is Jude, a Liverpool (where else?) shipyard worker who comes to the U.S. to meet his deserting wartime father at Princeton. Once there, he becomes friends with Max (Joe Anderson), a charismatic student looking for a way out of Princeton. They move to New York, where they meet a group of off-beat friends, and Jude begins a relationship with Max’s sister, Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood).
Across The Universe is like a Beatles version of I’m Not Here, and will draw the same kind of polarized views. If this is your thing, you will gush and giggle and proclaim it to be the cinematic event of the year. If it is not your thing, you will nod off and daydream about football, when people start to have a deep discussion about it. I see the artistic value here, and, though it’s entertainment value was limited for me, I didn’t find myself wishing it was over.
