Okay, I don’t understand the critics. I usually adhere to the percentages found at rottentomatoes.com; low rated movies usually suck and high rated movies usually are worth my time, although there have been instances when I disagreed with their extreme love or hate. When looking at the reviews of Across the Universe, I was confused. The tomatometer is at fifty percent. With seventy critics’ opinions counted, I am shocked how many critics did not like this movie. I wouldn’t have thought that Across the Universe would have such a polarizing effect. Critics either love it or despise it. I side with the former.I think I should start off by saying that I am a casual Beatles fan. I have heard many of their albums, enjoyed countless songs, and know some of their history thanks to a roommate who used to be obsessed with them. I’m not one of those people who only have their No.1s album, but then again, I can’t tell you which songs are found on which album. Well, maybe except for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Oh, for those who are wondering where the Beatles come in, Across the Universe is a story told using around thirty different Beatles songs to pull along the narrative. Apparently, there is only thirty minutes of dialogue in the film among the redone Beatles hits and rarities. I didn’t bring a stopwatch, so I’ll take their word for it.
In Across the Universe, the actors sing the songs and I’ll probably get struck by lighting or receive some hate mail, but I think some of the actors sang the covers better than the Fab Four themselves. The way Jim Sturgess sings “I’ve Just Seen a Face” is done with more passion than the light Beatles original. His rendition of “Revolution’ is almost heartbreaking as he confronts his girlfriend. It’s also surprising that Evan Rachel Wood (Thirteen, Running with Scissors) has a great voice, not that I’ve heard her sing before but it was a pleasant surprise with songs like “Blackbird”. I was also surprised with the acting ability of Bono who makes a brief cameo singing the wonderful “I am the Walrus”. The rest of cast including a Janis Joplin-ish Dana Fuchs and Jimi Hendrix-ish Martin Luther McCoy add some inspired rock and roll to the proceedings. Also there is a brilliant cameo of Joe Cocker as a homeless man, pimp and hippie singing “Come Together” Some of the critics feel this movie is blasphemous by redoing the sacred Beatles cannon but I felt it was fun and brave of this cast to belt these variations of the classic tunes.
Of course, the main reason to see Across the Universe is the beautiful cinematography created by the brilliant Julie Taymor (Lion King Musical, Titus). Mixing psychedelic, symbolic, fantastic and epic images together, Taymor interprets the Beatles tunes in a fresh way. Lighter songs are mixed with darker images and vice versa, while some songs just seem to fit; “With a Little Help From My Friends” is done is a dorm room filled with guys being guys. It works for me. Sure, some of the images are strange but the beauty cannot be denied. Some of the critics have compared this film to Yellow Submarine or Help!, I find that completely insulting both to Taymor and to filmmaking in general.
Some find the story of Across the Universe to be convoluted, a meandering tale for the sole purpose of stringing Beatles songs together. I found the story kind of simple which allowed me to enjoy the ride more. So, the movie introduces a character named Prudence, and then they eventually get to a beautiful rendition of “Dear Prudence”. So what? I was more disappointed that they didn’t have “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” after the bevy of references throughout the film. I did think the movie went a little long. A twenty minute cut would have made this film even better.
This is a movie not to be missed, especially if you are a Beatles fan. Across the Universe is definitely one of my favourite films of the year. I challenge you to see this in the theatre and not be mesmerized. I would end this blog quoting the title of a Beatles song but I don’t want to piss off the disagreeable critics.
4 comments:
The following is in complete DISAGREEMENT to the usually respected and agreed with Blackout film commentary.
I recently saw Across the Universe, and while I have ENORMOUS respect for Julie Taymor as a visionary artist, this movie (and the storyline) were simply props for her to do music video sequences and interesting film effects.
Undoubtedly, the effects are stunning, and truly, interesting and inspiring. I think she did beautiful things. But there was no story. The characters were complete cliches, and the central figure, Jude, was without depth, consistency, or throughline. It becomes convenient 40 minutes into the movie for him to be an 'artist'... mostly so you can see Taymor's artistic effects through his drawings. At the end of the film you're left wondering who the hell he was, and I could truly care less whether he gets together with the girl.
The Bono and Eddie Izzard cameos I found distracting. Sure, Bono's cool (Eddie came off as a better performer and actor, in my opinion) but their presence was completely unnecessary. It did nothing to develop the story, and was sort of confusing. All of a sudden Bono appears and takes them on a bus ride then leaves. (this is after he sings I am the Walrus. About 20 seconds after. ) His total screen time is maybe five minutes.
If you broke down the things in this movie that were necessary, or relevant, you'd be left with precious little.
I found the visuals impressive, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who likes this movie who says they 'care' about anything related to characters, stories, or emotional impact. And that after all, is what makes a movie different from a painting.
Also, from the first two seconds of the film, it feels choppy... non-coherent... jumping around from one thing to another, merely to get to the next song. Which more often than not did NOT fit into the general action, which ADDED to the choppiness of the whole thing.
Prudence (as a character, and the song) added nothing to the film.
And EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER situation was ripped off from the cliches of film making history. I HATED Evan Rachel Wood, and felt the strongest performance was Jude's singing (gorgeous voice) and the character who played Max.
Where this film was most successful was in the transition of Max going to the army for his checkup. This is one of the few moments where music, visual and story collide in an impressive coherence to the action, and it's twisted and beautiful. I wanted more moments like these.
I was suprised at how unoriginal it was. After all, being a Taymor fan, it seemed half-assed. Half the movie was ripped off from the musical 'Hair', and the other half was 'Moulin Rouge'. She seemed in Baz Luhrman's second rate shadow.
It annoys me when people do things to be 'artsy' without a strong enough purpose. The movie was watery. Sure, get the soundtrack. It's cool. I liked the originality of the score.
But that's not enough to make the movie effective.
So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Hey Kris,
Wow, tell me how you really feel. I’ll agree with you on the characters and storyline but I stand by opinion concerning the imagery. True, I don’t see why Jude had to start off as a dockworker only to become an artist. I also don’t understand why he had to visit his father if nothing was going to come from it. I didn’t know why many of the characters did what they did but I did appreciate their relationships. I wanted to see Jude and Lucy back together and I enjoyed the friendship between Jude and Max. I thought Max was great. I also agree with your assessment of Evan Rachel Wood’s acting ability, I just didn’t know she could sing.
When it comes to clichés, remember that this is a musical. The genre is filled with cliché. What musical number does not look like a music video? I also saw this movie as a warped tribute to The Beatles. It just seemed more like a fun amusement park ride for me, which is why the cameos didn’t bother me so much. I think we both went into the movie expecting different things. And obviously got different things out of it.
But hey, thanks for taking the time to disagree with me. See what I mean about the 50%?
You should have your own blog.
Till later,
Mark
Musicals do not have to be cliche.
Like an other genre, they can transcend into art, or descend with unpurposeful intent into that dismissive category of being 'cliche'.
The filmmaking in this movie was anything but cliche. I agree with you there. It was worth my money to see the visuals. But that's me. I use it for inspiration, not just entertainment.
Jude and Max were the best part of the movie, for sure. I wish Lucy hadn't been Max's sister. I also resist the complementing of Evan Rachel Wood as singer. I listened to parts of the soundtrack before I saw the movie, and when you hear the audio without the visual, her voice is the weakest of the bunch. But, so is Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge and I got over that. Also, Sarah McLaughlin's remix of Blackbird on the 'I am Sam' soundtrack kicks this one's ass.
That's another funny thing Taymor did. The I Am Sam soundtrack is all Beatles' songs redone by contemporary artists. The idea for that isn't even original.
I love discussing. Sorry if I sound vehement about these things. You're the first person I've been able to discuss it with, since no one else has seen it.
I understand the 50% thing... but I think the 50% that like it, don't like it as a "movie". They like it for the music. In which case they should just buy the soundtrack and save themselves the money until this one comes out on video.
Hey Kris,
Thank you for making me defend myself. While I enjoy people trusting and agreeing with me, I also enjoy the times discussing with those who don't.
You make a good point with the I Am Sam soundtrack; I totally forgot about that. And while I partially agree with your assessment of people liking the music over the movie, I do think the images are larger than life and deserve to be seen on a nice big screen. Of course if you want to sing along or you're worried others will be compelled to sing (like what happened to me during Walk the Line), you might want to get the DVD.
Thanks for the discussion.
Post a Comment