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I just saw the new movie by artistic director Julie Taymor called Across the Universe. It uses the Beatle's music to backup the story. The story has a love story mixed into the events of the 60's, with the Vietnam war and riots and protests. Jude is a young man from Liverpool who comes to the U.S. to find his estranged father who left his mother after finding out she was pregnant. Jude is disappointed when he does finally meet his father and finds him to be a maintenance man on the campus of Princeton University. He meets Lucy through her brother on the campus and goes to their house for Thanksgiving. The music plays a key role in this film by setting up the images conveyed such as that when Lucy's brother gets a draft notice for the army and has to go enlist. The song "Happiness is a Warm Gun" is the background for this as posters of Uncle Sam come to life reaching out to him, trying to grab him by his shirt collar. There is also a lot of symbolism in that in one short scene, some young soldiers are carrying a giant Statue of Liberty through the fields of what is supposed to be Vietnam in that they are in a place they don't want to be and in carrying the statue, they are giving democracy to Vietnam but also baring their own heavy cross of what they are being made to do. Just as it was then, it is now, where the American army was in a place they shouldn't have been and weren't needed just as now, we aren't wanted in Iraq.

There is also symbolism in a scene that uses the song 'Let It Be' where two different scenarios are played out in parallel with an African American neighborhood being bombarded in raides and riots in Detroit and a young boy is killed. There is a gospel choir singing in a church during a funeral for the boy while on the other side, Lucy is standing in a cemetery with the family of her boyfriend who was in the army and was killed. This show how one thing affects people in different ways but are also similar, both families have lost someone because of the war and the radical riots going on across the country.

The trip comes when Jude, Lucy and her brother, prior to him being sent off, go to a party for their landlady who is a singer in a club band and they are at the debut of another singer played by U2's Bono who is Dr. Robert. He sings "I am the Walrus" and after they have some tasty pink punch and enjoying the aroma of smoking weed, go on a huge drug trip on a psychodelic bus with Dr. Robert. They head to a new place not knowing how they got there or where they are. The artistic view of the film is interesting in how this part changes colors in a 3d sort of way. After Dr. Robert leaves them in the middle of this place, they find themselves on the playground more or less of the famous Mr. Kite the circus ring master.

There are many cameos and lots of the Beatle's famous hits will be unmistakable. Other cameos featured are Salma Hayek, Eddie Izzard (my favorite as Mr. Kite), Bono, and Joe Cocker who sings "Come Together". Other Beatle's hits featured are "Strawberry Fields", "Hey Jude", "Dear Prudence", "Blackbird", "All We Need is Love", "Helter Skelter", "Happiness is a Warm Gun", "Revolution","Girl", "I Am the Walrus", "Being for the Benefit of Mr.Kite" and many others. I was disappointed in that the soundtrack left off a lot of the good songs. The soundtrack should have had two cds to it instead of just one holding 17 tracks.

Anyway, if you want to check it out, here is the movie site www.acrosstheuniverse.com
The movie was really excellent and illustrated the history of the 60's very well as well as weaving a love story interest. You also can't go wrong with the many Beatle's hits that support the story.

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