Across the Universe

Today I finally watched the "Across the Universe" !!! This is the most amazing film I've seen lately.

I wouldn't consider myself as a huge Beatles fan, but of course I love their music :) It reminds me of my life 5-6 years ago :-))
This film made me love Beatles even more, especially with the new interpretation of the songs and new associations brought by this film.

This is a musical directed by Julie Taymor, based on Beatles's songs depicting '60s with the Vietnam war, hippies and New York.

The characters' names were taken from the Beatles' songs - Jude, Lucy, Sadie etc...

There are appearances of Bono from U2, Selma Hayek and Joe Cocker in some very unpredicted ways.
There are also the prototypes of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Ken Kesey (the writer of the "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", played by Bono).

The film is showing the love story of Lucy and Jude that is intertwined with the anti-war movement, the struggle for free speech and civil rights, mind exploration and rock'n'roll of the 60s.

As for my favorite scenes, I would mention the one where Jude's friend Max is being taken to the army - it's just breathtaking. Such an imagination !!

Then the "Strawberry fields" and soldiers and the artwork.

I liked also the underwater scene.

And the rooftop concert:

 The character of Jude is quite cute, especially the fact of him being an artist ;) Covers of the songs are done amazingly good, bringing a new sound to the old and loved songs. In the movie, there are more than 30 of them used. Now I will do everything to download them all!

Also, the movie reminded me the Forrest Gump and the lead female character Lucy was reminding Forrest's Jenny. 

The film was nominated for the Academy Award for the "Best costume design" and also for the Golden Globe as a "Best picture". 

An interesting fact on the film:

According to the industry trade paper Daily Variety, the filmmakers had to pay The Beatles and publisher ATV/Sony Music about $10,000,000 for the music rights to the 30 songs used in the film (roughly $330,000 for each song). As a condition of the songs' use, the advertising posters for the film did not mention "The Beatles" nor the songwriters' names.

 Here's the song listing taken from the film's wiki page:

1. "Girl"
2. "Hold Me Tight"
3. "All My Loving"
4. "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
5. "With A Little Help From My Friends"
6. "It Won't Be Long"
7. "I've Just Seen A Face"
8. "Let It Be"
9. "Come Together"
10. "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?"
11. "If I Fell"
12. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"
13. "Dear Prudence"
14. "Flying" instrumental
15. "Blue Jay Way"
16. "I Am The Walrus"
17. "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!"
18. "Because"
19. "Something"
20. "Oh! Darling"
21. "Strawberry Fields Forever"
22. "Revolution"
23. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
24. "Across the Universe"
25. "Helter Skelter"
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"
28. "A Day In The Life"
29. "Blackbird"
30. "Hey Jude"
31. "Don't Let Me Down"
32. "All You Need Is Love"
33. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"