Across the Universe

Across the Universe

Going retro has been one of the fad nowadays. It can be seen in the way people dress, the music that they listen, and in many more ways that point to the retro movement. Not only that, retro could also be seen in cinemas. Some films have retro as their theme nowadays. The movie entitled Across the Universe is the latest retro movie out in cinemas.

Across the Universe is the latest musical film as of this writing. Its world premiere happened at the Toronto International Film Festival on the 10^th of September this year (2007). on the 14^th of September, it was shown only in 27 selected cinemas. Then it was shown to 276 cinemas on 21 September 2007.

Across the Universe, set in the 1960s, is the story of a simple dock worker, Jude, from England who went to the United States to look for his estranged father, whom he never met in his lifetime. His father used to be part of the US Army, but have since then retired from active duty making his task a little harder.

Upon his arrival in the States, Jude befriended Max Carrigan. Jude's new friend is a rebellious kid from a wealth family. The two were billeted in an apartment in New York with other young individuals. Soon Max's sister, Lucy, joined them in their New York enclave. Jude and Lucy became friends. A relationship developed between the two. There was a budding romance.

As part of his duty as an American citizen, Max was drafted for war in Vietnam. Lucy soon found herself joining the anti-war protests. Jude, apathetic by nature, was soon convinced by Lucy to join her in their protests against the Vietnam war.

The film was directed by Julie Taymor and is distributed by Columbia Pictures. The movie was based on the Beatles album Across the Universe. The name of the characters are also based on the different songs of the Beatles. Somewhat the movie is just an adaptation of the call of the times during the hippies era, where the motto was “make love, not war.”

The movie has a total of six primary characters. These are Evan Rachel Wood as Lucy, Jim Strugess as Jude, Joe Anderson as Max, Dana Fuckes as Sadie, T.V. Carpio as Prudence, and Martin Luther McCoy as JoJo. Four people also appeared with cameo appearances. These are Bono as Dr. Robert, Eddie Izzard as Mr. Kite, Salma Hayek as the characters of the Bang Bang Shoot Shoot Nurses, and Joe Cocker as Tramp, Hippie, Tramp. Digital effects have something to do with the different characters of Salma Hayek and Joe Cocker.

Focusing on the main actress of the movie, Evan Rachel Wood, is rumored to be romantically involved with the rocker Marilyn Manson. This report is not confirmed yet. On the career side, she has a total of six films this year (2007). With this many films, there is no way but up for her both in showbiz and in the financial ladder. Not a bad thing for someone who just recently turned 20 years old as of this month of September.