Across the Universe (film)

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Across the Universe

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Julie Taymor
Produced by Jennifer Todd
Suzanne Todd
Revolution Studios
Written by Julie Taymor
Dick Clement
Ian La Frenais
Starring Evan Rachel Wood
Jim Sturgess
Joe Anderson
Dana Fuchs
Martin Luther McCoy
T.V. Carpio
Music by Elliot Goldenthal
Cinematography Bruno Delbonnel
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) October 12, 2007
Running time about 133 min.
Country Flag of the United States
Language English
Gross revenue Domestic
$24,343,673
Foreign
$3,641,184
Worldwide
$27,984,856
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Across the Universe is a 2007 Academy Award-nominated musical film produced by Revolution Studios and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was released in the United States on October 12, 2007. The script is based on an original story credited to Julie Taymor, Dick Clement, and Ian La Frenais that incorporates 33 compositions written by members of The Beatles.

The film, directed by Taymor, stars Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson, and T.V. Carpio, and it introduces Dana Fuchs and Martin Luther McCoy as actors. There are cameo appearances made by Bono, Eddie Izzard, Joe Cocker, Salma Hayek, and others.

Opening to mixed reviews, Across the Universe was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. Two members of the supporting cast performed as part of a special Beatles tribute at the 50th Grammy Awards.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The film plot relates the interweaving stories of several characters set against the backdrop of the turbulent 1960s. The arc of the storyline spans from the early innocent part of the decade to the politically-charged later years of the decade.[1]

The story starts in the mid 1960s with a young Liverpudlian ship builder named Jude (Jim Sturgess) who travels by ship to the United States in search of his American G.I. father, Wes (Robert Clohessy), whom he has never met and who does not know his son exists. After jumping ship and while searching for his father at Princeton, he befriends Max (Joe Anderson), a rebellious young man from a privileged background, and meets Max's sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Max drops out of college and moves to New York City, accompanied by Jude. Max works as a taxi driver, while Jude pursues work as a freelance artist. They become roommates in a bohemian enclave where they share an apartment with other people, most notably Sadie (Dana Fuchs), their landlady, who is an aspiring singer. Other residents include Jojo (Martin Luther McCoy), a guitarist who arrives from Detroit after the death of his younger brother during the 12th Street riot; and Prudence (T.V. Carpio), a young lesbian girl who hitchhikes to New York City from Dayton, Ohio. After Lucy's boyfriend is killed in the Vietnam War, she goes to New York to visit Max before she starts college, despite the fact that her parents aren't very pleased with the idea.

Romantic relationships develop between Lucy and Jude, and between Sadie and Jojo. Prudence (who seemingly holds a crush on Sadie) becomes depressed, and hides in the closet the entire night. Realizing that where she is, the rest of the cast coax her out of the closet, showing that they completely accept her lesbianism. She then leaves the enclave and joins Mr. Kite's Circus, where she finally decides she belongs. When Max is drafted and sent to Vietnam, Lucy becomes involved in a radical anti-war movement, while Jude remains comparatively apolitical. Jude becomes unhappy with the amount of time she spends with the political group, suspecting that its leader Paco is a lothario. Jude's art and his relationship with Lucy both start to falter. Meanwhile, Sadie has formed a band, Sadie and the Po Boys, with Jojo as her lead guitarist. She gains the attention of a manager who signs her to a record label, but wants her to drop her backing band. She agrees, and this leads to a bitter break up between Sadie and Jojo, both musically and romantically. Sadie leaves to go on tour, while Jojo plays guitar in a local bar.

Meanwhile, the differences and tensions between Jude and Lucy escalate. One day, Jude storms into the offices of the political group where Lucy works, and after creating havoc and chaos, is kicked out. This leads to a fight between the couple, which results in Lucy leaving Jude. Jude finds her at an anti-war demonstration at Columbia University during which many protesters, including Lucy, are arrested. Attempting to help her, Jude is also arrested. Though Wes convinces the police not to press charges for actions at the protest, he cannot prove that Jude is his son (and thus an American citizen), and Jude is deported back to England. Going back to work at the Liverpool shipyards, Jude finds his old girlfriend, Molly, pregnant by an apparent old friend of his who smugly kisses Molly on the cheek (which does not upset the apathetic Jude).

Max is wounded in Vietnam and is repatriated, emotionally and mentally shattered by his experiences, while Lucy remains involved in her anti-war faction that is becoming more and more violent. She finally leaves the group when she returns to their old headquarters and discovers Paco and some of his followers making bombs. One of their creations explodes, killing Paco and his confederates and destroying the building. Jude reads about the explosion in a Liverpool newspaper and becomes convinced that Lucy has died. However, he subsequently hears from Max that she is alive, and he arranges to legally return to the United States. He meets Max, who drives him to Sadie's music headquarters where a (Beatles-style) rooftop concert is being held by Jojo and Sadie (who have reunited) and their band (which now includes Prudence) singing "Don't Let Me Down". Lucy is supposed to be there, but she arrives late. After seeing Sadie's recording company logo (an abstract strawberry Jude had created), Lucy sadly walks away, overwhelmed with grief. Meanwhile, as the police begin to force the group to leave, Jude manages to stay behind on the roof. Sheepishly, he begins to sing "All You Need Is Love." The rest of the band hears him and comes back on to the roof and they join him with their voices and instruments; down in the street Lucy hears him as well and tries to enter the building but is turned away by the police. Max suddenly looks out across the street as they sing, and Jude turns to see Lucy, wearing a diamond necklace, standing on an adjacent roof. They smile at one another with tears in their eyes, and the screen fades out to white clouds and blue sky. This also refers to "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" by The Beatles.

[edit] Use of The Beatles' music

The film begins with Jude singing the beginning verse of "Girl" as he remembers. The scene then flips back and forth between Lucy's prom and Jude in a Liverpool club with his girlfriend Molly, with Molly and Lucy each singing "Hold Me Tight". "All My Loving" is then sung by Jude to Molly prior to departing for America. Prudence appears at a football practice session at her school in Dayton, singing "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" as her thoughts about another female cheerleader at her school. The shipyard employee says to Jude that he told himself "When I'm Sixty-Four", he was going to be out of this place, wishing Jude luck on his trip. When Jude meets Max, "With A Little Help from My Friends" is sung around the college campus Max attends that is also where Jude's father works. Lucy sings "It Won't Be Long" when she gets a letter from her boyfriend saying he'll be home because he got a pass before he ships out to Vietnam. At a bowling alley, Jude realizes he has feelings for Lucy, singing "I've Just Seen a Face". When Jude and Max arrive at their New York apartment their new landlady says they look like clean cut boys but that they could have murdered their grandma with a hammer which is lyrics from "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" The scene shifts to show a small child (Jojo's brother) hiding next to a burned out car during the 12th Street riot, singing "Let It Be"; it changes into a gospel rendition and we move back and forth between the funeral of the boy, who was killed in the riot, and that of Lucy's boyfriend, killed in Vietnam.

As Jojo arrives in New York City, Joe Cocker sings "Come Together", switching between playing a bum, a pimp, and a street seller. When Prudence comes into the group's apartment, the lines "Hello Hello" are said in greeting and "She came in through the bathroom window" is said in response to Sadie's asking from where she came. Later, Sadie sings "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" at Cafe Huh? to an enthusiastic crowd. In the next scene, Jude and Lucy are seen at a dock, and Lucy sings "If I Fell" as she realizes her own feelings toward him. The songs ends with their kiss and embrace at a party. Max is drafted and during his recruitment tests we hear "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"; the scene later shifts to Sadie singing to Jojo and Prudence distantly singing to Sadie through her window. Prudence is heartbroken, locking herself in the closet. Sadie, Max, Lucy, and Jude sing "Dear Prudence" to convince her to come out. "Flying" and "Blue Jay Way" appear in the background shortly thereafter.

When at a record party, Dr. Robert sings "I Am the Walrus", and the song continues as they drive away on his bus. They find a circus grounds and Mr. Kite (Eddie Izzard) sings "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!". Reunited with Prudence, who was performing in the circus, they all lie down in a field and sing "Because", then moving into a surreal underwater montage.

Back in New York, Jude sings "Something" as he sketches the sleeping Lucy. Next, Sadie and her band sing "Oh! Darling" at a gig at a large venue, leading to Jojo and Sadie's breakup, where Jojo messes up the guitar and makes Sadie storm out. When Jude is working on a logo for Sadie's new record label in his bedroom, tacking strawberries on a board, he (later joined by Max, who is currently in Vietnam) sings "Strawberry Fields Forever".

Jude bursts in on Lucy at the Students for a Democratic Reformation's office and sings "Revolution". There is a shift to Jojo, seen in the club singing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Jude's problems with Lucy can then also be attributed to his brief part in the song.

Jude sings "Across the Universe" on the subway on the way to go after Lucy who is currently at the Columbia University protests of 1968. He continues singing the refrain as the scene then shifts between the protest and Sadie in concert singing "Helter Skelter". When Max is in the Stateside hospital, he and other wounded soldiers sing "Happiness Is a Warm Gun." There is a slight reprise of "Revolution". Then, Jeff Beck's version of "A Day in the Life" plays as Jude again works in the Liverpool shipyards and wanders the Liverpool streets. A few months later, when Max is out of the hospital, Lucy sings "Blackbird" to him.

After this, the scene shifts between Jude and Max at different bars, and Max begins to sing "Hey Jude" as Jude is seen going back to New York. Max picks him up from the port as they head to hear Sadie sing "Don't Let Me Down" atop a building. Jude then sings "All You Need is Love" a cappella. Over the credits, Bono sings "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." "Blue Jay Way" is reprised thereafter as covered by The Secret Machines.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Cameos

[edit] Production

[edit] Dispute

In March 2007, the media reported a dispute over the final cut of the film. Concerned with the length of director Julie Taymor's cut of the film, Revolution Studios (production studio) chairman Joe Roth tested a sneak preview of a shortened version without first informing Taymor. The incident sparked some heat between the two, later involving Sony Pictures (distributor) Amy Pascal urging Taymor to agree to the shorter version.[2][3][4] After several months of dispute, Taymor's version was eventually reinstated as the theatrically released version.[5]

[edit] Music

[edit] Musical numbers

Follows is a listing of the thirty-three compositions written by members of The Beatles that are heard on the soundtrack, in the order featured in the film. This listing includes notation of three compositions that are heard twice in the course of the film, so there are a total of thirty-six individual music cues.

  1. "Girl" — Sturgess
  2. "Hold Me Tight" — Wood, Hogg
  3. "All My Loving" — Sturgess
  4. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" — Carpio
  5. "With A Little Help From My Friends" — Anderson, Sturgess, "dorm buddies"
  6. "It Won't Be Long" — Wood, "students"
  7. "I've Just Seen A Face" — Sturgess, Anderson
  8. "Let It Be" — Woods, Mitchum, church choir
  9. "Come Together" — Cocker, McCoy
  10. "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" — Fuchs
  11. "If I Fell" — Wood
  12. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" — Anderson, Fuchs, Carpio, soldiers
  13. "Dear Prudence" — Fuchs, Sturgess, Wood, Anderson
  14. "Flying" instrumental - The Secret Machines
  15. "Blue Jay Way" — The Secret Machines
  16. "I Am The Walrus" — Bono, The Secret Machines
  17. "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!" — Izzard
  18. "Because" — Wood, Sturgess, Anderson, Fuchs, Carpio, McCoy
  19. "Something" — Sturgess
  20. "Oh! Darling" — Fuchs, McCoy
  21. "Strawberry Fields Forever" — Sturgess, Anderson
  22. "Revolution" — Sturgess
  23. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" — McCoy, Sturgess
  24. "Across the Universe" — Sturgess (interwoven with "Helter Skelter")
  25. "Helter Skelter" — Fuchs (interwoven with "Across the Universe")
  26. "And I Love Her" (brief extract incorporated into the orchestral score during the "Across the Universe"/"Helter Skelter" sequence)
  27. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" — Anderson, Hayek, patients
  28. "Revolution" — Wood
  29. "A Day In The Life" — Jeff Beck
  30. "Blackbird" — Wood
  31. "Hey Jude" — Anderson, Mounsey
  32. "Don't Let Me Down" — Fuchs, McCoy
  33. "All You Need Is Love" — Sturgess, Fuchs, Carpio, McCoy
  34. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" — Bono, The Edge

[edit] Extended musical numbers

There is extra music, such as in "Hold Me Tight", to have more opportunity for things such as dance solos. In "Come Together" on the special features there is extra music for a dance solo and a well-planned "Six Degrees of Separation" which connects the main characters as they enter New York lifestyle. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is also extended to add time for Max's medical check-up that is shown and for the dialogue about Max eating cotton balls and other theories to get out of the draft. The extended music is used as undertone during dialogue like after "Dear Prudence", "Something", and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Other extended songs include "I Am The Walrus", "Oh! Darling", "Across the Universe", "Helter Skelter".

[edit] "She Loves You"

In the Beatles' 1967 recording of the song "All You Need Is Love", as John Lennon sings the ending chorus and fade out of the song, he and Paul McCartney briefly sing the chorus of their 1963 hit "She Loves You" as a tongue-in-cheek nod to the band's earlier pop group incarnation.[6][7] In the performance of "All You Need Is Love" in the film, the same "She Loves You" chorus is sung as in the Beatles' original version. Unlike the Beatles' rendition, where the reprise of the 1963 chorus is a light-hearted throwaway moment, the film version uses the "She Loves You" lyric at a pivotal moment as a commentary on the romance between the story's principal two characters. Because the chorus of "She Loves You" was incorporated into the Beatles recording of "All You Need Is Love", the words and melody are also considered part of the latter composition. There is no credit given for the extract from "She Loves You" on the film's end credit sequence. On the 2-Disk Deluxe Edition of the DVD, credit is given for the extract from "She Loves You."[8]

[edit] Soundtrack

The film's end credits identify a total of thirty-three separate Beatles compositions featured in the film, either in their entirety or in part. All of these songs were written between 1963 and 1970 by the members of The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) and recorded by The Beatles. Twenty-nine of them are compositions that are officially credited to the songwriting partnership of Lennon-McCartney. Three are credited to George Harrison. One title ("Flying") is a 1967 composition credited to all four members of the Beatles (Lennon-McCartney-Harrison-Starkey).

Of the Twenty-nine songs that bear the official Lennon-McCartney credit, sixteen are customarily attributed primarily to Lennon as a writer, and ten are customarily attributed primarily to McCartney. The remaining three songs ("I Want to Hold Your Hand", "With a Little Help from My Friends", and "A Day in the Life") are titles which both Lennon and McCartney have confirmed were written in collaboration.

Thirty of the soundtrack's songs feature vocals. Two of them ("And I Love Her" and "A Day in the Life") are brief instrumental versions of songs that were originally written with lyrics, although "And I Love Her" is sung in a deleted scene. One song ("Flying") was originally written as an instrumental.

Twenty-five of the vocal tracks are performed by one or more of the six lead cast members. Four of the songs are sung by stars with cameo roles (Bono, Eddie Izzard, Salma Hayek and Joe Cocker). One song ("Let It Be") is sung by supporting members of the cast. One song ("Blue Jay Way") is sung by indie Texan trio The Secret Machines. In twenty-nine of the vocal tracks, the vocalists are singing on-screen. Two of the vocal tracks ("Blue Jay Way" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") are sung by off-screen vocalists.

The remaining three of the thirty-three songs are rendered instrumentally. "Flying" is performed by The Secret Machines, "And I Love Her" is heard briefly as part of the orchestral score, and "A Day in the Life" is performed on guitar by Jeff Beck in a version recorded for Sir George Martin's 1998 album In My Life.

In addition to the thirty-three Beatles compositions, the soundtrack features an original score composed by Elliot Goldenthal. Goldenthal worked on Taymor's previous films Titus and Frida. (Goldenthal and director Taymor have also been partners since 1982.)

Interscope Records has released three variations of soundtrack albums from the film - a standard edition and two deluxe editions. The standard edition contains 16 tracks from the film soundtrack, although "Let It Be" is shortened, missing the third verse. The first version of the deluxe edition features 31 tracks - all of the vocal performances and one of the three instrumental tracks.[9] In the US this 31-track version is available solely at the Best Buy retail chain and in a digital version via iTunes, while in Europe it is available at other retail outlets. A second version of the deluxe edition is available at other retail outlets and digital download suppliers. The second version differs from the 31-track version in that it omits two tracks ("Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)").

The song "It Won't Be Long" was released as a single on iTunes on September 11, 2007. On October 15-17, 2007, and again on October 22-23, 2007, the 31-track deluxe edition was the #1 downloaded album on iTunes.

The soundtrack includes seven songs from The Beatles (also known as The White Album), five from Magical Mystery Tour, four from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, four from Abbey Road, three from With The Beatles, two from A Hard Day's Night, two from Let It Be, one from Help!, one from Rubber Soul, and three other singles.

[edit] Standard edition track list
  1. "All My Loving" — Sturgess
  2. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" — Carpio
  3. "It Won't Be Long" — Wood
  4. "I've Just Seen A Face" — Sturgess
  5. "Let It Be" — Mitchum, Woods
  6. "Come Together" — Cocker
  7. "I Am The Walrus" — Bonom Secret Machines
  8. "Something" — Sturgess
  9. "Oh! Darling" — Fuchs; McCoy
  10. "Strawberry Fields Forever" — Anderson, Sturgess
  11. "Across the Universe" — Sturgess
  12. "Helter Skelter" — Fuchs
  13. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" — Anderson, Hayek
  14. "Blackbird" — Wood
  15. "Hey Jude" — Anderson
  16. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" — Bono, The Edge

[edit] Deluxe Edition Track List
  1. "Girl" — Sturgess
  2. "Hold Me Tight" — Wood
  3. "All My Loving" — Sturgess
  4. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" — Carpio
  5. "With A Little Help From My Friends" — Anderson, Sturgess
  6. "It Won't Be Long" — Wood
  7. "I've Just Seen A Face" — Sturgess
  8. "Let It Be (long version)" — Mitchum, Woods
  9. "Come Together" — Cocker
  10. "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" — Fuchs
  11. "If I Fell" — Wood
  12. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" — Anderson, Carpio, Fuchs
  13. "Dear Prudence" — Anderson, Fuchs, Sturgess, Wood, Sturgess
  14. "Flying" — Secret Machines
  15. "Blue Jay Way" — Secret Machines
  16. "I Am The Walrus" — Bono, Secret Machines
  17. "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!" — Izzard
  18. "Because" — Anderson, Carpio, Fuchs, McCoy, Sturgess, Wood
  19. "Something" — Sturgess
  20. "Oh! Darling" — Fuchs, McCoy
  21. "Strawberry Fields Forever" — Anderson, Sturgess
  22. "Revolution" — Sturgess
  23. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" — McCoy, Sturgess
  24. "Across the Universe" — Sturgess
  25. "Helter Skelter" — Fuchs
  26. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" — Anderson, Hayek
  27. "Blackbird" — Wood
  28. "Hey Jude" — Anderson
  29. "Don't Let Me Down" — Fuchs, McCoy
  30. "All You Need Is Love" — Carpio, Fuchs, McCoy, Sturgess
  31. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" — Bono, The Edge

[edit] Allusions

[edit] Beatles references

In addition to the 33 Beatles compositions used in the movie, there are multiple references in the film to Beatles lyrics and folklore.

  • At the beginning when Jude is working in the ship yard, a tanker can be seen with its underside painted yellow. This is a reference to Yellow Submarine which also had a yellow underside.
  • The cops who announce that Daniel is dead wear the name tag "Poe" in reference to Lennon's "I am the Walrus"
  • The "T" in the title "Across the Universe" is dropped slightly from the rest of the text similar to the famous image of "The Beatles" on the bass drum of Ringo's drum set.
  • The title is taken from the Beatles song "Across the Universe", the "O" in "Across" is shown as a strawberry on the key-art advertising the film - a reference to the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever."
  • The strawberry motif seen throughout the entire film and Jude's crazed art session with strawberries reflects the album art of Paul's first solo album, McCartney.
  • The Liverpool club seen during the UK part of the "Hold Me Tight" sequence was filmed in the reconstituted Cavern Club in Liverpool. The band in the film are in similar stage set-up to the footage of the Beatles seen in the 1962 archive footage of the group performing the song "Some Other Guy" at the Cavern Club.
  • An elderly shipyard employee who gives Jude his paycheck says, "I told myself, 'When I'm sixty-four'..." a direct reference to the song title "When I'm Sixty-Four."
  • At college, Max generally goofs off and causes trouble. This is a reference to the song lyric, "Back in school again/Maxwell plays the fool again", from the song which gives Max his name "Maxwell's Silver Hammer."
  • The arrangement of the second half of the performance of "With A Little Help From My Friends" is based on the Joe Cocker version of the song.
  • In the above portion of the song "With A Little Help From My Friends", the boys are running and jumping around in an open field, a direct reference to a similar scene in the movie A Hard Day's Night.
  • The poster of French actress/model Brigitte Bardot in Max's dorm room is similar to one owned by and displayed in one of the homes of John Lennon.
  • Seen in Lucy's room, next to the mirror, is an early photo of George Harrison and John Lennon.
  • During the Thanksgiving dinner scene, someone at the table remarks that "the cranberry sauce isn't as tangy as last year," referencing the use of the words "cranberry sauce" uttered by John in the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" which was often mis-heard as "I buried Paul," adding to the myth that Paul was dead.
  • The Let it Be scene shows a crowd of people at a funeral dressed in black and holding black umbrellas. There is a very similar scene showing black-clad people with black umbrellas in the film Yellow Submarine.
  • There are several uses of the number "nine" - which is a popular number in Beatles culture because of the avant-garde Beatles recording Revolution 9. The apartment that Paco uses as his headquarters is apartment number 9. When Jude and Lucy go outside for fresh air during Sadie's show at Cafe Huh?, there is a number 9 behind them in the background. When Prudence locks herself in the closet, the number 9 is fixed to the closet door. At the end of the movie, when Lucy tries to get to Jude on the rooftop, the door that she's standing in front of when she rings the buzzer has a number 9 on it. When the group sings "Because" they are in a circle of nine.
  • When Max and Jude first see their new apartment, Sadie comments that Max seems harmless, but could have murdered his grandmother with a hammer, and in another scene Max is shown holding a hammer, both references to the song that inspired Max's name, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". Also, Max has a habit of causing trouble with his father's set of golf clubs, which are "silver hammers" of sorts. In one scene, Sadie talks with Max while he uses a silver hammer to try to fix a fan.
  • During Sadie's performance of "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?", Jude shouts out the words "Sexy, Sadie" - the title of the song from which her name is taken.
  • A voice is heard yelling "Get Back!" when Sadie leaves the stage during "Oh! Darling."
  • Prudence enters Sadie's apartment through a window in the bathroom. Sadie asks where she came from, to which Jude replies, "She came in through the bathroom window" an obvious reference to the Beatles song "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window".
  • After Prudence enters through the bathroom window Jude greets her saying "Hello, hello" which can be seen as a reference to "Hello Goodbye".
  • Later in the film, Prudence locks herself in the closet and has to be serenaded out by the other cast members. This is a reference to a real occurrence in 1968 at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India where the Beatles, Mia Farrow, Donovan, and others were studying. Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence, was reclusive and did not leave her living quarters to join the other students, inspiring John Lennon to write the song "Dear Prudence." The film also uses the song as a subtle reference to the fictional Prudence character's reluctance to 'come out of the closet' in relation to her sexual orientation.
  • When Jude, Lucy, and Max are at the party for Doctor Robert (portrayed by Bono) they are seen drinking from a bowl of unknown liquid. This is a reference to the lyric, "Take a drink from his special cup, Doctor Robert" from the Beatles song "Doctor Robert."
  • In the scene when Jude is singing Something Lucy's sleep is a representation of the song Golden Slumbers as much of the scene is described in the song.
  • The bus trip with Dr. Robert appears to reference the 1967 Beatles production Magical Mystery Tour - a project that had itself been inspired by the 1964-1965 bus trips of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters - also referenced in Across the Universe. There is even a brief appearance by the bus driver who resembles the real Pranksters driver, beat icon Neal Cassady. Further evidence that Dr. Robert references Kesey is the style of the party, with Kool-Aid spiked with L.S.D. Dr. Robert holds forth with an Ampex tape delay echo machine that is on the signatures of the Merry Pranksters' "Acid Tests". Dr. Robert also says, "You're either on the bus or off the bus" - a direct quote from Ken Kesey in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test written by Tom Wolfe.
  • The "Blue People" in the sequence based on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" are based on The Blue Meanies from the animated film Yellow Submarine.
  • Jude and Lucy's underwater embrace during the end of the acid trip sequence is a tribute to a famous 1981 Rolling Stone cover featuring a naked John Lennon kissing a clothed Yoko Ono.
  • Sadie's record company is called "Strawberry Jamz" - a play on the Beatles company "Apple Corps."
  • Apple, the company founded by the Beatles in 1968, is obliquely referenced when Jude is trying to draw a green apple, then slices it in half and tries to draw it again, thus producing the two images used for that company's record labels. A green apple is also seen when Jude is drawing an apple when Lucy and Paco come in to drop off a TV.
  • The instrumental for "A Day in the Life" is playing as Jude, in Liverpool, reads the newspaper article about the bomb blast, thus referencing the line, "I read the news today, oh, boy."
  • The rooftop concert toward the end of the film, during which "Don't Let Me Down" is sung, references the Beatles' famous impromptu rooftop concert atop their Apple offices in January 1969 - their final live performance in which they also performed that song. The police appearing on the scene to close down the concert is a reference to the 1969 event which had a similar police visit.
  • During the "Come Together" sequence, Joe Cocker is singing at the bottom of the escalator, he then breaks into a left-handed air guitar. This, of course, is a reference to Paul McCartney who plays guitar and bass left-handed.
  • In the film "Yellow Submarine" during the song "Eleanor Rigby" there is a man trapped in a phone booth. There is a scene in "Across the Universe" when Lucy is calling her mother and she becomes trapped in the phone booth during a riot.
  • When Jude is in jail, after the riot, his dad comes to see him. Jude's dad asks "have you told your mother you found me". Jude answers "Not yet but I will". It is probably referring to the song Your Mother Should Know.
  • At the end of the film, when Jude is on the roof he sees Lucy wearing a diamond necklace on top of the building across the street, and the building is higher up, so this is a reference to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
  • When asked by Max where his accent is from, Jude responds, "Same place as me, Liverpool." Liverpool is the hometown of The Beatles.
  • The apple used by Jude while he practices drawing still life is a reference to Apple Records, a label created by the Beatles in 1968

[edit] Character names

The names of the principal characters - and several of the secondary roles - are derived from names in the titles or lyrics of Beatles compositions.

[edit] Historical allusions

The film contains many allusions and analogs to people and events of the era.

The anti-war group Lucy joins, the Students for Democratic Reform, is clearly the Students for a Democratic Society -- the logos of the two groups are even similar. And just as the real-world Weather Underground split off from the SDS and accidentally blew up a Greenwich Village townhouse, so do the heads of the SDR (the photograph Jude sees in the newspaper was from this actual incident). Immediately before the explosion that kills the radicals, Lucy discovers three of her radical brethren making a bomb. Two of these characters bear a striking resemblance to Mark Rudd and Bill Ayers, both of whom were key Weather Underground organizers.

Jojo is an amalgam of Jimi Hendrix and James Gurley, and Sadie of Janis Joplin. The club that Sadie and Jojo play in is named Cafe Huh?, an allusion to Cafe Wha? a Greenwich Village club in which Hendrix, Joplin, and many other legendary performers appeared owned by David Lee Roth's uncle Manny Roth. Also, when Lucy crosses the street next to the Strawberry Jams building you can spot Janis' psychedelic Porsche parked next to the building.

When everyone is giving Max tips about how to escape being drafted into the army, Jojo talks about how he was in the army at the age of 17, because "there was no escaping it where he was from." This aspect of Jojo's fictional biography is analogous to Jimi Hendrix's army service, which was his sentence for riding in a stolen car. Also notable is the fact that Max's parents reference Jack Kerouac at the dinner table on Thanksgiving after Max announces that he will drop out of school.

Doctor Robert is a representation of Ken Kesey, who established the group the Merry Pranksters. The group took a trip to New York to promote Kesey's new book Sometimes a Great Notion, just as Doctor Robert is promoting "I Am The Walrus" in the movie. The mystery drink that Jude, Lucy, and Max drink out of is a direct reference to the "Electric Kool-Aid" that the Merry Pranksters provided. While Doctor Robert performs at the party one of the party goers in the front row resembles Acid Test performer Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead. The psychedelic bus on which the group rides is named "Beyond", a reference to the similar bus used by the Pranksters named "Furthur". Like Furthur, the back of Doctor Robert's bus says "Weird Load," and he utters the words made famous in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test: "You're either on the bus or off the bus." A character who resembles Abbie Hoffman, wearing a shirt with an American flag, is seen on the bus.

After the bus ride, the group arrives at the League of Spiritual Deliverance, an acronym for LSD, which "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is thought to be. This fictional league is also an allusion to Timothy Leary's League of Spiritual Discovery. Frank Geary, an unseen transcendental counterculture figure who refuses to meet Doctor Robert at his upstate New York cottage, is a reference to Dr. Timothy Leary. Leary met Kesey and his Merry Pranksters at his Millbrook estate, but the reception was chilly. When the scene evolves into a performance of "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite", Mr. Kite mentions the "turn on, tune in, drop out" counterculture phrase coined by Leary in the 1960s. He also makes a reference to the Blue Meanies.

[edit] Release and reception

[edit] Release history

The film's release date and release pattern became the subject of some media and public discussion. The film had been originally scheduled for release in 2006. The release was postponed as the editing process became extended and the subject of internal disputes arose. The film was subsequently scheduled for a wide release on approximately 1,000 US screens on September 28, 2007. In early September 2007, Sony Pictures announced that the release would be brought forward to September 14, with a "platform release" pattern starting on a small number of screens - with additional screens to be added in subsequent weeks. This proved frustrating as the trailer was attached to Spiderman 3.

The film received its world premiere on Monday, September 10, 2007 at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was then given a very limited "platform release" on 27 screens in the US on Friday September 14. The film had the second-highest "per-screen" average on its opening weekend. In the following three weeks, the release was gradually expanded to select regions.[10] After four weeks in limited release, the film was elevated to a comparatively broader release on 954 U.S. screens on October 12, breaking into the U.S. box office top ten at number 8.[11][12][10]

The DVD, UMD, and Blu-Ray formats were released on February 5, 2008.[13]

[edit] Box office performance

Weekend Screens Weekend gross Weekend per-screen average Cumulative gross[12]
Sept 14-16, 2007 27 $667,784 $29,034 $667,784
Sept 21-23, 2007 276 $1,950,871 $7,068 $2,896,771
Sept 28-30, 2007 339 $2,016,224 $5,947 $5,476,433
Oct 5-7, 2007 364 $1,945,219 $5,344 $8,078,951
Oct 12-14, 2007 954 $3,824,988 $4,009 $12,734,454
Oct 19-21, 2007 960 $2,653,475 $2,764 $16,720,931
Oct 26–28, 2007 964 $1,687,341 $1,750 $19,296,796
Nov 2-4, 2007 822 $1,207,449 $1,468 $21,051,977
Nov 9-11, 2007 582 $901,303 $1,548 $22,404,372
Nov 16–18, 2007 464 $565,548 $1,218 $23,317,663
Nov 23–25, 2007 214 $302,854 $1,415 $23,901,110

[edit] General reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. As of January 6, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 53% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 130 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 56 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.[14] However, notable film critic Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times was extremely positive towards the film, giving it four stars, calling it "an audacious marriage of cutting-edge visual techniques, heart-warming performances, 1960s history and the Beatles songbook" and calling Julie Taymor an "inventive choreographer". Negative reviews criticized a lack of cohesiveness in plot and an overtly-literal interpretation of The Beatles catalogue of songs. The film appeared on a few critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007:[15]

[edit] Awards

[edit] Nominations

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Movie Review New York Times, September 14, 2007.
  2. ^ A Revolt at Revolution?. Movie & TV News. IMDB.com. 20 March 2007.
  3. ^ More Details of Taymor-Roth Feud. Movie & TV News. IMDB.com. 21 March 2007
  4. ^ Waxman, Sharon. "Film Has Two Versions; Only One Is Julie Taymor’s". New York Times. 20 March 2007.
  5. ^ Douglas, Edward. Julie Taymor Soars Across the Universe. ComingSoon.net. 18 September 2007.
  6. ^ What Goes On - The Beatles Anomalies List.
  7. ^ Extras - All You Need Is Love / She Loves You
  8. ^ End credits from the DVD.
  9. ^ Across the Universe Soundtrack : News : Across The Universe Soundtrack available 9/14!. Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
  10. ^ a b Mason, Steve. Friday Box Office: Resident Evil $22M 3-day; Eastern Promises strong; Into The Wild huge. Slashfilm.com. 22 September 2007.
  11. ^ Goodman, Dean. Game Plan conquers Kingdom at box office. Reuters.com. 30 September 2007. Accessed 2007-10-23.
  12. ^ a b Across the Universe (2007) - Weekend Box Office. Box Office Mojo.com. Accessed 2007-10-23.
  13. ^ Across the Universe. Amazon.com. Retrieved Dec. 27, 2007.
  14. ^ Across the Universe (2007): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-01-06.
  15. ^ Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  16. ^ Ebert, Roger. "The year's ten best films and other shenanigans". Chicago Sun-Times. 20 December 2007. Accessed 2008-01-05.
  17. ^ HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007. goldenglobes.org (2007-12-13). Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
  18. ^ OSCAR.com - 80th Annual Academy Awards - Nomination. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.

[edit] External links

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