Across the Universe

Saw a good movie, if a little long, on Saturday. I'm not a huge Beatles fan, but I enjoyed the reimagining of their songs as part of a movie musical -- that's right, my second musical in the last four months. I think Across the Universe deserves some Oscar consideration, but it may have been released too early. It has a clear love story, which will not surprise many people, but as one character says when asked whether being or doing is more important in making a person's identity, "Clearly it's the way that something is done that matters." This film has some visual and musical innovation, much of it probably coming from the mind of Julie Taymor, famous as the director of the Lion King musical on Broadway. It touches on the transition from peace to war to peace again in the Vietnam era, but the film isn't limited to a "period piece." The Beatles' lyrics, importantly, span time and space and talk about love, peace, war, and art. The characters in the movie participate in these "universe-al" themes, even as the storyline remains coherent and emotionally grounded. There are some trippy moments as the cast of characters encounters psychedelia, and there is some artistic nudity. It got a PG-13 rating, but I wouldn't be comfortable bringing children to see it -- too confusing for them to understand. I would love to watch it again to catch everything I missed, and it does have a liberal bent, as one would expect from a Beatles retrospective. This reimagining of the Beatles' music as a multimedia experience is well worth seeing. Here's Peter Travers' review in Rolling Stone.