Thoughts meander like a restless wind
Inside a letter box they
Tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe
In many ways, these words from the classic Beatles song (which also serve as the eponymous musical number) perfectly describe director Julie Taymor's visually imaginative rock opera set in the United States of the 1960's.
The Film
Is there anybody going to listen to my story,
All about the girl who came to stay?
She's the kind of girl you want so much it makes you sorry,
Still you don't regret a single day.
With this lyric from "Girl," the film begins its journey. Utilizing an entire library of works from The Beatles, "Across the Universe" tells the story of Jude (Jim Sturgess), a young man from Liverpool (where else?) who travels to the United States of America to find his father and falls in love with Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Their love plays out with the turbulent 1960's United States as its backdrop as we, the viewers, are treated to a series of vignettes based on Beatles songs, that do little more than dredge up every rose-tinted cliché imaginable - from burning draft notices to anti-war rallies - all while the main protagonists, for the most part, come out of everything relatively unscathed.
This is even more vexing considering the filmmakers chose as their setting New York City, a city that sits on what was by far the grittier, more dangerous of the two coasts during that decade. At the time when our hero and heroine were getting all "peace and loved" out in this fantasy version of a 60's New York City, in the actual 60's New York City it was far more likely they would have been leather-clad, strung out on heroin, and laying in a gutter somewhere. That was the New York City of Andy Warhol's Factory and the Velvet Underground, not The Beatles and The Summer of Love.
It was, in fact, this seedy underbelly from the east coast which would eventually make its way across the country to the "sunny west" and devour the hippie scene; but of course, they seemed to have missed all of that in this film. Nothing exposes that more conspicuously than the "With a Little Help from My Friends" scene early on at Princeton where Jude, Lucy's brother Max (Joe Anderson) and Max's college friends are smoking invisible marijuana. That must have been some really potent cannabis.
Historical inaccuracies aside, the film in its entirety is very loosely strung together. It is literally a meandering set of vignettes themed on Beatles songs, somewhat psychedelic music videos, if you will, and it makes for a story that is nearly impossible to follow. Visually, it is compelling and imaginative with the standout scenes being Eddie Izzard's performance of "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", where the filmmakers decided to part with any semblance of reality; Bono's performance of "I am the Walrus" which explodes into a world of colors, and the combination strawberry sculpture/Vietnam battlefield scene duet between Jude and Max on "Strawberry Fields Forever", where strawberries fall from the sky and turn into bombs exploding over the jungles of Vietnam. As high definition demonstration material, these will make for perfect showcase scenes, but as with most of the material in this film, they do not help the plot to progress at all; they only make for pretty visuals.
But the core of the plot, if you can call it that, is the love story of Jude and Lucy and it is impossible to even understand why these two "beautiful" young people are in love. The essence of their relationship is touched upon so briefly that it is rendered shallow and one hardly cares whether they "make it" or not.
So, the question has to be asked; what's the point to this entire film? The answer could only be - to get some Beatles music into a movie, and on that point I am almost amazed that I have to say they have succeeded. I went into the viewing of this film fully prepared to chastise every performance of The Beatles songs I heard, but surprisingly, they seemed to work. The reason they did is because composer/musical director Elliot Goldenthal did something extremely wise in that he did not seek to recreate the songs exactly as people knew them, for what would be the point? Instead, he re-invented them, but he did so without turning them into gaudy show tunes. He proved that The Beatles songs are great no matter who is performing them, and that is not an easy task.
The Picture
Presented in a 1080p/24 AVC encoding in its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio, this high definition Blu-ray release of "Across the Universe" is captured with superb detail. From the first gloomy opening scenes in Britain of Jude to the colorful dreamscapes of Bono performing "I Am the Walrus" or Eddie Izzard performing "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", the fine film grain is captured perfectly giving the entire presentation a wonderfully sharp, film-like quality. Foreground detail is rendered well, but there is only the slightest bit of softness in background detail. Other than that minor quibble, I could find nothing wrong with the transfer.
The Sound
For this release a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless (48khz/24-bit) soundtrack is offered, in addition to Portuguese and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks.
The TrueHD lossless soundtrack was well done, with ample bass giving the overall mix a solid feel. Where there was dialogue, it was always clear, well defined and well placed in the mix. Overall the mix works well with the material. There are some parts, particularly the Vietnam battle scenes, where the surrounds and the LFE are used more aggressively, but the 5.1 mixes for most of the musical performances were relatively subdued, with most of the sound being present in the front three channels and not much motion in the surround channels. This is a lost opportunity, as anyone who has heard the 5.1 mix on The Beatles - "Love" DVD-A knows how well their music translates to an aggressive surround mix. Even over the closing credits on this release with Bono's version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" a more aggressive 5.1 mix is used, and it sounds wonderful.
The Extras
Though they are abundant, I do not feel the extras offered on this release are anything so compelling that they hold up to multiple viewings. In addition to the audio commentary by director Julie Taymor and composer Elliot Goldenthal there is a wealth of video extras included, all in 16:9 high definition.
"Creating the Universe" is a behind the scenes look at the filming of "Across the Universe" specifically featuring interviews in which much praise is lavished upon director Julie Taymor. "Stars of Tomorrow" focuses on the stars of the film - of which all, with the sole exception of perhaps Evan Rachel Wood, are relative unknowns. The "All About the Music" featurette looks at composer Elliot Goldenthal and the work that went into re-imagining and re-recording the classic Beatles songs and integrating them into the film. "Moving Across the Universe" gives a look at the film's choreography. "FX Across the Universe" is rather self-explanatory; a featurette on the look and visual effects used in the film.
In addition to the aforementioned, eight extended musical performances, one deleted scene, and two live alternate takes of Eddie Izzard performing "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" are included. Lastly, the BD-Java based Don Nace Art Gallery features various sketches used throughout the film.
Final Thoughts
As a film, "Across the Universe" is hardly worth watching for anything more than the thrill of hearing some completely reworked Beatles songs mixed into 5.1 with the accompaniment of some rather imaginative visual elements. The historical facts are glazed over so thoughtlessly, the storyline so thinly strung together and the protagonists so shallow, that there's really no other redeeming quality to the film-as-story; this one is strictly eye (and ear) candy. As a high definition release, "Across the Universe" makes decent rental material.
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