Musicals; you either love them or hate them. A lot of people are tempted by Julie Taymor’s Beatles extravaganza, Across the Universe, which sets a 1960s love story to the songs of perhaps the biggest selling band of all time. Undeniably, if you love or even appreciate the music of John, Paul, George and Ringo, Julie Taymor’s visual feast of psychedelic eye candy will rock you gently. Meaning, it’s like a lullaby that’s too engrossing to fall asleep to.
Even the mildest of Beatles’ fans probably couldn’t help but sing or hum along, as some classics just never die. The praises of musical choices as plot compliments and Taymor’s creative genius could go on for pages but one question looms. Does this much anticipated musical film meet or exceed expectations? Reading some of the other reviews here on Associated Content1 and elsewhere, it seems opinions have fallen into two camps. Either unabashed satisfaction or a respectful indifference; the latter being due to the creative prowess of the film’s many collaborators.
There is much to look forward to in Across the Universe, beyond a full Beatles Songbook, underscored by composer Elliot Goldenthal. Goldenthal’s collaborations with Julie Taymor extend her cinematic explorations, including scores for Titus (1999) and Frida (2002). Taymor and Goldenthal’s collaborative efforts run much deeper as well, having been happily unmarried significant others since 1982. Perhaps it’s hard to fully appreciate Goldenthal’s underscore beneath the shadow of Beatles’ lyrics and melodies, but it’s solid. Not to mention the musical presence of the cast, Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther McCoy and TV Carpio. There is also the grin inducing cameos of Joe Cocker, Bono, Eddie Izzard and Salma Hayek.
Musically, the film floats over you and in particular Dana Fuchs and Martin Luther McCoy’s performances as Sadie and JoJo set the sails. They blow onto the screen emulating the presence of 1960s icons, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Albeit, it’s a somewhat 2-dimensional presence, that feels ungrounded even with the slightest breeze of criticism. To the credit of Dana Fuchs, she seems to twirl with ease in the role of a Janis Joplin carbon copy, having come from playing the singer in the off-Broadway hit, Love, Janis. All the characters’ names are of course pealed out of Beatles’ songs. Sadie from “Sexy Sadie”, a fitting character role from a song about love’s residue of a bad taste in your mouth, even though Lennon actually wrote the song about an Indian Yogi, Maharishi Mahesh. JoJo is from Lennon’s “Come Together”, but yet again the reference is only at a surface level, not seeming to have a deeper connection to Lennon and McCartney’s underlying themes.
There is also the lead lovers Jude (Jim Sturgess) and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), from the songs “Hey Jude”, and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, as well as Max (Joe Anderson) from “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.” There is still a relative connection behind the song’s meanings and the life of the characters. Jude being quite the sad British lad who needs a bit of cheering up, Lucy being an unforgettable school girl crush and Max being the vaudevillian troublemaker. There is also Prudence (TV Carpio), named after Lennon’s “Dear Prudence”, which he wrote for Mia Farrow’s sister Prudence who, deep in meditation, wouldn’t come out of her room in India. The song choices reflect how one might interpret the whole of Beatles’ songs; either as love songs with a political backdrop, or as love songs that allegorically capture cultural turmoil. The film opts for the former where love is the answer and politics just make for a colorful background; rightfully so as a musical.
It might seem that with all this in store the film simply can’t miss, but there is still that lingering question of expectations. In some ways in seems the film is everything you could want it to be, but leaves a taste for something more. Without resorting to blame, this shortage of satisfaction rests on the shoulders of Julie Taymor. She’s had plenty of time, career-wise, to create frantic costume chaos and the sunny side of Tim Burton-esque set designs. Why didn’t she just blow the lid off the concept and go for bank; taking audiences to a place beyond Grease meets the Who’s Tommy. Maybe it would have unsettled the nostalgic Beatles’ audience, but recalling what she did to Shakespeare with Titus, it would’ve been acceptable. Perhaps it was the fear of getting the critical reaction Titus got, which had star power, but was just too estranged to be widely acclaimed.
There’s more to it than just expectations though. As much as the cinematic medium allows Taymor’s gifted ways to float and explode like an asteroid belt of culture across the screen, her ideas always seem stage bound. Even with Titus and Frida, Taymor’s ambitions seem greater than the screen’s aspect ratio. This isn’t so much bothersome as it is fascinating and is all the more present in Across the Universe. It’s seems like Taymor is battling an internal creative clash of what medium best suits her paint brush. The resulting effect is always executed with brilliance, but characters either seem consumed by her stage designs, or trying to break free from the screen.
This is mostly an aesthetic overview that in no way detracts from the merits of Across the Universe. This film has been brewing in the creative unconscious pool we all dip into, and Taymor is in many ways the ideal seamstress to have woven the piece. Perhaps her aesthetic is simply the century old challenge of translating between the stage and screen. She’s found a way to leave us asking if a story wouldn’t have been better off as a stage production, or as a film. Across the Universe is an immediate gratification of songs, scenes and stimulation, but pondering it further just brews up questions of creative confusion as aesthetic.
So, take this love story on celluloid as it is; sing along and groove out with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, with a ticket to ride on the Yellow Submarine. None of these songs appear in the film, but they conceptually sum up the movie: Alter egos from Beatles songs that tell a story of love’s innocence freed in a rather colorful plot vehicle. A plot vehicle that, much like a submarine seems to sink at times, but manages to propel across its own universe.
Notes:
1 – Reviews of Across the Universe on Associated Content
Across the Universe, by Adrienne Perlow
“Across the Universe” Went Nowhere Man, by Jay Jay
Across the Universe – A Musical for the Beatles, by Ryan Meiller
