Revisionist Conceit

Rating: 3/10 (27 September 2008)

Another attempt to cash in on, and regulate, memories of the 60's.
By creating 1）standardized images, while using 2) a montage technique to narrow the story line, and 3) the Beatles' music as an out-of-context filter, the decade is reduced to a few simplistic concepts, rather than showing a period of variegated social and cultural upheaval. Since MTV wasn't around, we who were alive and conscious in the 60's had the choice to visualize and interpret individually as well as collectively. This film is an MTVization of the time, which will ultimately corporatize the personal experience. As people's memories fade, the media images will remain. The real experience will be diluted, and only delusional conceits like this movie will exist.
None of the humor, "hidden" meaning, and consciousness-imbuing attributes of the music, or the time, exist here. Only the lowest common denominator of impressions are used, as seen and gleaned from decades-old video. To appreciate what the Beatles were, listen to their original music, and watch the actual performances and promotional films.
"Across the Universe" is historical revisionism as entertainment: a far more dangerous activity than book-burning.
The three stars are for Joe Cocker's authenticity. Everyone else, including Bono and Eddie Izzard (his being the trashiest "performance" in the film), sink to a very low level.