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[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. While searching for his father at Princeton, he befriends Max (Joe Anderson), a rebellious young man from a privileged background, and 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 bisexual girl who hitchhikes to New York City from Dayton, Ohio. Lucy joins them in New York after her boyfriend is killed in the Vietnam War and her parents want her to take a long vacation before she goes to college.
Romances develop between Lucy and Jude and between Sadie and Jojo, which leaves Prudence depressed and eventually contributes to her joining the circus. When Max is drafted and sent to Vietnam, Lucy becomes involved in a radical anti-war movement, which leads to strain with the comparatively apolitical Jude. He is 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 he wants her to drop her backing band. This leads to a break up between Sadie and Jojo, both musically and romantically.
The differences between Jude and Lucy escalate. One day, Jude storms into the offices of the political group where Lucy works and is kicked out after punching Paco. This leads to a fight between the couple, resulting in Lucy leaving Jude. Jude finds her at an anti-war demonstration at Columbia University during which many protesters, including Lucy, are arrested. In 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. He finds his old girlfriend pregnant by an apparent old friend of his, who smugly kisses his ex on the cheek, much to the uncaring attitude of 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, destroying the building. Jude reads about the explosion in a Liverpool newspaper and is concerned that Lucy has died. 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, Sadie, and their band singing "Don't Let Me Down". Lucy is supposed to be there, but no one can find her, and the group is forced to leave when the police arrive. However, Jude manages to stay on the roof and 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. Max suddenly stares out onto the atmosphere as they sing, and Jude turns to see Lucy standing on the roof across the street. They smile at one another with tears in their eyes, and the screen fades out to white clouds and blue sky.
[edit] Use of The Beatles' music
The film begins with Jude singing the beginning verse of "Girl." The scene then flips back and forth between Lucy's prom and Jude in a club with his girlfriend, with Molly and Lucy each singing Hold Me Tight. "All My Loving" is then sung by Jude to his current girlfriend in Liverpool, prior to departing for America. Prudence appears, singing "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" as her thoughts about another female cheerleader at her school. 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. At a bowling alley, Jude realizes he has feelings for Lucy, singing "I've Just Seen a Face". 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 eventually 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" and "She came in through the bathroom window" are said in response to one 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 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. When Jude is working on a logo for Sadie's new record label in his bedroom, tacking strawberries on a board, he 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 injured in the hospital, he and other 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 works in the shipyards. 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." "Flying" is reprised thereafter as covered by The Secret Machines.
