From an IMDB anonymous storyline: “Across The Universe is a fictional love story set in the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, the struggle for free speech and civil rights, mind exploration and rock and roll. At once gritty, whimsical and highly theatrical, the story moves from high schools and universities in Massachusetts, Princeton and Ohio to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Detroit riots, Vietnam and the dockyards of Liverpool. A combination of live action and animation, the film is paired with many songs by The Beatles that defined the time.”
I could not describe it better myself! Lets begin by expressing that I am not into musicals; not on movies and not on theater. In spite of that, and as with ballet, I do give it a chance, every now and then when my sense of curiosity gets compelled by the thematic.
I had three important reasons to watch this movie:
- 1. It was one of the selections made by a member of our Tuesday Cinema Club. How to say no to that?
- I know The Beatles’ repertoire by heart, since it is the favorite band of one of my brothers.
- The fictional story has for background the decade of when I was born.
Still, I was prepared to deal with my not liking this movie whatsoever but, gladly so, I did not only liked it, but I extremely enjoyed all the imagery used to give life to the events of these decades with a rather exaggerated and unavoidable graphical way. Sometimes like rendering honors by copycatting Alan Parker’s The Wall from Pink Floyd, or Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ken Russell’s Tommy, or Milos Forman’s Hair.
Beyond the common and overused story about the romance between Lucy, the American white collar girl and Jude, the British blue collar boy, it is the good taste and well blended sense of creativity in art direction what makes this movie so fantastic!
P.S.: Wanting to be absolutely sure of my remark about art directing, I went to Wikipedia and found this description: “Various artists may create or develop specific parts of an art piece or scene, but it is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vision. In particular, the art director is in charge of the overall visual appearance and how it communicates visually, stimulates moods, contrasts features, and psychologically appeals to a target audience. The art director makes decisions about visual elements used, what artistic style to use, and when to use motion.
One of the most difficult problems that art directors face is to translate desired moods, messages, concepts, and underdeveloped ideas into imagery. During the brainstorming process, art directors, co-workers, and clients are engaged in imagining what the finished piece or scene might look like. At times, an art director is ultimately responsible for solidifying the vision of the collective imagination while resolving conflicting agenda and inconsistencies between the various individual inputs.”