A 1960's musical with a social statement

Rating: 8/10 (23 October 2010)

Across the Universe (2007), directed by Julie Taymor is a coming of age film, set in the 1960's that utilizes a great deal of music written by the Beatles. Taymor attempts to capture the essence of the era with her use of several pivotal events of the time. She blends not only the story of her characters but also the story of a nation coming to grip with a changing world.
We meet Jude, portrayed by Tim Sturgess, a poor shipyard worker in Liverpool England who is trying to break free of his drab existence and wants to locate his birth father in the United States. In his quest to find his father, he meets Max Carrigan, played by Joe Anderson. Max is a Princeton University student with too much time on his hands and too much mischief in his heart. Through Max, Jude meets Lucy, played by Evan Rachel Wood, Max's sister. The story then begins to develop around the relationship between Jude and Lucy and their love affair with each other and the influence of the time period on the people that surround them.
This film also addresses the political and social environment of the 1960's in the United States. This is shown in the scenes depicting the race riots in Detroit and in the use of drugs at Max's fraternity house. It is further emphasized as we listen to the conversation at the Thanksgiving dinner in the Carrigan's home. Max and his father start arguing about the need for a formal education and we see the opposing views of the older and younger generation. The older generation, represented by Mr. Carrigan, wants the younger generation to be serious, get an education and a job. The younger generation, represented by Max, wants to first find out who they are, so their quest for happiness can be complete. By combining both a musical format and a social statement in one film, this director attempts to bridge the stigma of creating a musical film in an era that does not appreciate the genre. This may remind the viewers of the attempt of Hairspray to combine a musical with a social statement regarding interracial relationships.
The director used some interesting sound technique's to create tension in a scene with Sadie, played by Dana Fuchs, and JoJo, played by Martin Luther McCoy. As Sadie is singing, JoJo who is angry with her deliberately uses his guitar and amplifier to overpower her performance on stage. The sound used was so loud and scream-like, the audience immediately knew there was discord not only in the song but in the relationship. This was a great way to engage the audience in the turmoil of the times and of the strain on human relationships. Another technique Taymor used throughout the film was the use of color as a communicator of mood. She showed the shipyard, the riot scenes and the war scenes in grays, blacks, and browns. This immediately set the mood for the scenes as dismal and dreary as well as reminding the audience of the struggles that were facing the people in those environments as they tried to break free.
Throughout the film the musical score was interwoven and used to remind the audience of the amazing talent and creativity the time period produced. The social issue of the Vietnam War and the shift in the view of society toward the future of its youth made this film worth watching.