Across the Universe -- Sad Songs Say So Much

Julie Taymor's spectacular "Across the Universe" is a musical set in the tumultuous 60s to the music of the Beatles. It is a fantastical romp through a time that often has been viewed through rose colored glasses, but here is beautiful and frightening and confusing and wild. Ms. Taymor's previous projects include The Lion King on Broadway (well-known for its use of large puppets that seem to dance above the people who dance while operating them), Titus (a cross between Baz Luhrmann and David Lynch making an obscure Shakespeare play) and the underrated Frida (with a fabulously unpretty Salma Hayek and stand out cameo by Ashley Judd). All share the same fantastical approach to storytelling that Across the Universe epitomizes — I'm reminded of Baz Luhrmann (again) and Alan Parker.

Julie Taymor and her musical producers reimagine familiar songs to give us a new way of hearing them. The idea is that the characters think and feel in songs by the Beatles organically — the Beatles don't seem to exist in the movie. There are plenty of examples in Universe of musical revelation, but the song "Something" when sung by Jude (Jim Sturgess) to a sleeping Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) becomes an intimate soliloquy of his love for her. Despite already being a love song Sturgess' inflection changed the way I heard it. Ms. Taymor also uses terrific visual effects like animation, masks and puppets and 60s-era film effects to help her story along. This has the effect of making each musical vignette seem a little like a music video, but rather than derail the story they add up to the conclusion. One of the most effective and relevant vignettes is the beautifully choreographed Army draft office scene — identical Army sergeants sing "I Want You" to draftees in their briefs while they undergo the standard testing. "I Want You" is a 2 part song, notice the relevance of "She's So Heavy" to today's failing idea of nation-building.

In addition to honoring the writing of the Beatles, Universe is a love song for New York City. It's an homage in its details of New York. Katz's Delicatessen, the decaying docks, the iconic arch in Washington Square, the Village, the eclecticism, the loft and walk-ups, the brownstones. The New York that Taymor is reprising is the one of Bob Dylan and NYU and not — happily — the hippie mecca of Hair. Jude, an illegal alien, becomes nothing less than a graphic designer with home studio for painting on the side. New York was a hot bed of design in the 60s as it has been ever since. War protesters wear army jackets and are more quick to radicalize, full of leftist ideologies, than those seen in many other retrospectives. Much more New York than Left Coast. It's always wonderful to see how a filmmaker treats the location of the story. Woody Allen, Whit Stillman and PT Anderson are famous for it in their use of New York and California. New York is just another character and it sings every song in duet with the flesh and blood actors on screen. Even though we see other locations in the film, notably Liverpool, all life is drawn to NY and ends up there.

A final note: there are 2 cameos in the film that are worth noting. Bono and Eddie Izzard play competing leaders of communal groups. They make for a wonderful midpoint in the story and each bring his own strengths to the performances. Don't miss Joe Cocker and Salma Hayek in their brief cameos.