Across the Universe

"I get by with a little help from my friends."
"When I get to the bottom, I go back to the top."

Do you recognize these phrases? I'll give you a hint. They're lyrics. Need another hint? Ok, well they're from a band that is unarguably the biggest band to ever hit stateside. Still don't know? Well, The Beatles of course! Recently these classic songs have been remixed and put into a movie musical in the form of Across the Universe. I personally saw this movie twice already and thought it was a beautiful, haunting, and at the same time disturbing picture of the 1960's.

Across the Universe uses several elements in order to capture the emotionally charged "magic" that is so well exudes:

1. Camera Angles- this movie makes wonderful use of camera angles to portray emotion. I noticed a lot of closeups, which portrayed the joy, depression, and angst of the character in a way that was relative to the audience. In several scenes, wide shots are used to portray the size of New York City (where most of the movie takes place.) The opening shot establishes a lonely scene with the main character (Jude) sitting alone on a beach, with waves crashing in on him in the background. This depressed emotion is conveyed through use of the wide shot, and then a zooming in to establish an eventual closeup.

2. Symbols- The movie is chalked full of symbols. One major distinguishing feature of this movie is what some would call its "artsy-ness." The point of the show is established through its use of colors and extreme characters. In one scene, a group of soldiers are seen trampling over a miniature jungle set while carrying a large model of the statue of liberty on their shoulders. While they are doing this, they are singing "She's so heavy!" All of this portrays the feelings of many Americans about the Vietnam War. In another picture, the main female character's brother walks into the Army recruitment center for a draft summons. Upon entering the room, a large picture of Uncle Sam on the wall comes to life and points at him, all the while singing "I want you, I want you so bad. I want yo-oo-oo-oo-ou. I want you so bad it's driving me mad. Continuing in the scene, the picture of soldiers is dramatized as the soldiers in the building are made to look like the wartime pictures, with plastic faces, chiseled jaws, massively wide eyes, and all the same. There are also some drug trip scenes that are of particular interest and/or will leave you saying you yourself, "What just happened."

3. Montage- several times throughout the movie a montage is used to show an overarching picture and historical events condensed into a short sequence of pictures and movie clips. One notable montage takes place in the very beginning of the movie. While one of the most angst driven songs by The Beatles (Helter Skelter) is playing, newspaper clippings and short shots of characters in dramatic positions is shown, giving an overarching picture of the story even before the movie has hardly begun. Another notable montage is near the middle of the movie. A psychedelic writer appears on the scene (played by no other than Bono!!) He is promising everyone that if they come with him on his bus, they will be enlightened among other things. This leads into a drug trip sequence where the film uses an interesting Photoshop-esque element making the colors act crazy in order to simulate a drug trip on film. An entire week long period is condensed into about 4 minutes, as the main characters are whisked away from New York to the palace of a 60's New Age guru. In the end, the montage ends as the bus drives away, leaving the main characters trapped in the middle of nowhere with no transportation. (It makes for an interesting visual experience.)

Overall, I found this movie to be amazing and would recommend it to anyone. It portrays the music of The Beatles in a way that is illuminated in light of the historical and psychological context of the chaos of the 1960s. It is sure to make you think and is not a movie to miss. So in a word (or three to be exact):

GO SEE IT!!!