Across the Universe (2007)

As I wrote in my very first post, I am a film junkie, and one of my favorite "drugs" of choice is the musical. Give me Astaire, or Kelly, or Rogers and Hammerstein and I'm a happy camper. I'll even admit that "Xanadu" (1980) is a guilt pleasure, and if the kids make me watch "High School Musical" (2006) one more time, it's not so bad. It could be A LOT worse. I was a big champion of "Moulin Rouge" (2001) when it first came out and hoped that maybe it would revive a genre that except for a few Disney films in the early 90's had pretty much become nonexistent. During the 1970's studios considered it taboo and a waste of money to make a musical. It was a waste of money because they were making bad movies, not because they were musicals. But the genre has made a comeback in the 2000's, even winning some big awards, "Chicago" (2002) and "Dreamgirls" (2006) to name a few. There's been some bombs along the way as well, but you can say that about any film genre.

The place where Hollywood finds most of its material for the musical is of course Broadway, and one of the recent treads of the last decade has been the creation of shows around a specific artist or group's catalog of music; "Mamma Mia" (Abba), "Jersey Boys"(The Four Seasons) and "Movin Out" (Billy Joel) as some of the more successful examples. It makes sense, since the audience is coming into the show already knowing the music. Although these productions can be entertaining, its really about the music. Artists doing karaoke versions of the songs people already know and love. The closer the music is to the original artist the higher the approval of the audience. Sometimes it works great, others crash and burn. A few artists are just such originals (Sinatra for one) that to try and impersonate it is just not possible (Note to Rod Stewart, please stop trying). So when I heard a film was being made in which no-name actors would be singing Beatles songs I thought blasphemy. Why even attempt something which shouldn't be done. That's like thinking someone would be stupid enough to do a shot by shot update of "Psycho" but in color...wait...oh never mind.

I began to write this film off until I heard who was going to attempt such a task, Julie Taymor. I became a big fan of Taymor when I was in college. She was a performance artist who worked a lot with puppetry, a little passion I had as a kid. Most people would know her more as the person who created the costumes and directed Disney's "The Lion King" when it came to the Broadway stage. A purely one of a kind production that is totally unique. Taymor works in many different arenas and media including film, which she began experimenting with in the 90's centering around Shakespearean themes. Her most famous film to date is "Frida" the 2002 movie staring Salma Hayek, which won 2 Oscars and was nominated for 4 more. Taymor is a very visual person, she definitely has the artist's eye to create something visually appealing, but was she embarking on a subject that just shouldn't be tackled?

The movie is a fictional story of 6 characters, each with names pulled from Beatles songs, as they journey through the 1960's in America. It begins with Jude, a young shipyard worker, heading off from England to America in search of the G.I. dad he never knew. He'll met and become friends with Maxwell, fall in love with Max's sister Lucy, and rent an apartment from Sadie, an aspiring singer. Other tenants include Jojo, a guitarist who arrives after his younger brother is killed in the Detroit riots, and Prudence, a Midwest cheerleader who is trying to understand the strong feelings she has towards a fellow girl on her squad. The story then follows the group as they try to survive the tension, love and violence that was the 1960's. The plot is nothing unique for a tale set during this time period. You'll be seeing the usual subplots of characters heading off to Vietnam, protesting and experimenting in the psychedelic world. If you have any background knowledge of the Beatles you'll also see lots of direct references to their history, such as Jude coming from Liverpool, a "Magical Mystery Tour" bus, and a concert on a New York City rooftop, or slight offshoots like Strawberry Records replacing Apple Records. There are also copies to other icons of the time with two of the characters clearly channeling Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Even though the story is nothing special, I must admit it worked for me. It came across not as a realistic telling of the time, but as someones memory of the time period. The details weren't specifically there, but the overall feel and look of the story made me understand that era more than most documentaries. It became a 21st century telling of a time and place that is now 50 years past. It also had somewhat of a place-less quality to it. Even though we are told it is New York City, there were none of the usual NYC landmark shots, that continues to place you there. Instead it comes across as a tale that could be taking place in any city across America at this time. In fact, many of the themes could be taken from current news reports which gives it a timeless quality as well.

But the main player in this film is the music. It was the one element that would either make or completely ruin this project. I didn't want to see an "American Idol"- karaoke version of these songs. Either make it your own, which is the hardest thing to do, or play the originals. Well, I'm happy to say that huge props go out to Taymor and Elliot Goldenthal, the musical director. They were able to take these classic songs and add new life to them. Some were stripped down to acappella or acoustic versions, others sped up or played out through ordinary elements like windshield wipers. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is sung like a eulogy to Martin Luther King and "Let it Be" is turned into a full blown gospel rendition. To some this may be sacrilegious, I thought it was extraordinary. Even a simple, joyous song such as "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is turned into lament by someone longing for a love they can not have. This not only shows the talents of the musical director, but is a testament to the genius of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr in crafting such beautiful songs.


The movie incorporates some great cameos. These aren't the usual "Oh look who it is" stunts most film's use, but are perfectly cast roles for characters. Joe Cocker switches between a homeless man, a pimp, and a hippie as he sings out "Come Together." Bono of U2, plays Dr. Robert, a typical 60's West coast guru to psychedelic "tuning in." Mr. Kite, a circus conductor is portrayed by the comedian Eddie Izzard, and Taymor's friend Salma Hayek returns as the heavenly hallucination of a nurse taking care of returning Vietnam soldiers. The main cast is filled with unknown actors and musicians except for Lucy, played by Evan Rachel Wood of "Thirteen" (2003) fame, but who all do a very good job, especially in the singing department.

The visual elements also have there own special quality to them. Taymor's artistic eye brings a different perspective to this film compared to current movie releases. There are quite a few special effects used throughout the film, but not the overblown CGI effects (there are a few) now used in blockbusters that tend to overshadow the story. In fact, many of the effects are used to help express the feeling or tell the story. As the characters begin their psychedelic trip, so too does the visuals take on a surreal quality; the use of puppetry and masks, cut-outs, multiple exposure, solarization, filming underwater and blue screen techniques are used. A scene such as "Strawberry Fields" is wonderfully crafted without any CGI. Jude and Max are singing a duet, from opposite sides of the planet. This is accomplished with multiple images, some shown on T.V. screens in the background and some projected on to the actors themselves. This was all done on the set and filmed all together, with inter cut shots of strawberry bleeding down walls and blowing up like napalm bombs. Few directors would be creative enough to think of, let alone try something like this. One scene which I find humorous is an early montage as Jude and Max begin their friendship singing "High with a Little Help from my Friends." If Taymor actually showed what appeared to be marijuana joints she would have been instantly slapped with an "R" rating. Instead, the actors pretend to hold something up to their mouths to simulate smoking, but when they exhale, real smoke does come out. This just pokes fun at the stupidity that is our American ratings board.

When I did a quick search to see what other critics thought of this film I was actually a little surprised to find so many negative reviews, many of who complained about the music. Well, to each there own. Nothing will replace the initial recordings of these songs. But Roger Ebert gave it a glowing review and commented about it being the only film he went back to see a second time at the Toronto Film festival. "It's the kind of movie you watch again, like listening to a favorite album." I couldn't agree more, besides for picking up the soundtrack (there have been 3 different versions released already), I have a hard time watching just parts of it. It's the type of movie that sucks you in or you have on in the background only to be sidetracked from other tasks to end up sitting down and watching. It is a beautiful movie for both its visuals and its sound, and I believe it will have a bigger following in the future. Ebert also suggests watching the Beatles "A Hard Day's Night" (1964), a film that holds up very well and showcases the charisma of the Fab Four. These two movies would be the perfect double feature for a cold and rainy night!

Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)

The recent release of The Esther Williams collection Vol. 2 showcases one of the 1940's - 50's most popular stars. The set contains 6 films from the swimming sensation including "Thrill of a Romance" (45), "Fiesta" (47), "This Time for Keeps" (47), "Pagan Love Song" (50), "Easy to Love" (53) and one of her last aquatic musicals, "Million Dollar Mermaid" (52). The biographical tale of turn of the century Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman. But this film is as much about Williams herself, being the perfect vehicle for Esther to dive and swim around a pool. Showing off her amazing talents in a story that no other actress could have accomplished without multiple edits or a stunt double. It is also an interesting marker to view how far woman's rights and the image of the female had come in the short span of 50 years

The story centers around the real life Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman. Disabled at a young age by polio, her parents enrolled her in swimming lessons to help strengthen her legs. By the time she was a teenager, she not only had improved from her disability, but was becoming a national swimming and diving sensation. In 1905, at the age of 18, she became the first woman to attempt to swim the English channel and became a leading advocate for the right for women to wear a one-piece bathing suit. From there, she would go on to the vaudeville circuit being credited for helping to invent the sport of synchronized swimming after her 1907 performance of the first water ballet in a glass tank at the New York Hippodrome. She would finally arrive in Hollywood and become a film star. In 1916, Kellerman would become the first major actress to do a nude scene when she appeared fully nude in "A Daughter of the Gods". The film was the first million-dollar film production, but no copies are known to exist. The majority of her films had an aquatic theme to them highlighting her swimming talents. Annette performed her own stunts, including diving 60 feet into a pool of crocodiles, and designing her own mermaid costumes. She also appeared in one of the last films made in Prizma Color, "Venus of the South Seas" from 1924. Restored by the Library of Congress in 2004, this 55-minute film, shot in color and underwater, is the only feature film starring Kellerman known to exist in its complete form. Unfortunately, "Million Dollar Mermaid" stays away from the more meaty elements of Annette's life, or glosses over them with more of a comedic slant, such as when she is arrested on a Boston beach for indecency for wearing one of her fitted one-piece bathing suits. But this is a 1950's Hollywood musical, starring one of America's sweethearts, Esther Williams, so you have to understand you will be getting a sugar-coated fantasy.

Esther Williams, the actress who portrays Kellerman, would also has a successful swimming career at a young age. She would become a National swimming champion in the 100 freestyle and had planned to compete in the 1940 Olympics before it was canceled with the outbreak of World War II. She would appear with Johnny Weismuller (of swimming and Tarzan fame) during the San Francisco World's Fair, where she was seen by MGM scouts. Her first appearance in film would be as a love interest opposite Mickey Rooney in "Andy Hardy's Double Life" in 1942. But it was the 1944 feature "Bathing Beauty", with it's water ballet finale that would establish her as a star. MGM would soon create a special sub-genre for her called "aqua-musicals" showcasing her swimming and diving talents. She would spend the next decade at MGM creating 18 such films along a similar light and musical style. "Million Dollar Mermaid" of 1952 would be one of her last aqua-musicals at MGM before moving on to Universal in 1956 to try her hand at more dramatic roles. Like Kellerman, Williams also performed many of her own stunts, resulting in her rupturing her eardrums numerous times and nearly drowning on several occasions. During one of the elaborately musical numbers on "Million Dollar Mermaid", she would break her neck filming a 115 ft dive off of a tower which landed her in a body cast for several months. She would eventual recover, she claims to still have lingering complications from this accident. Although she was married at the time of filming, Esther would reveal in her autobiography that she had a passionate affair with her costar Victor Mature. Citing that at the time her marriage to "an alcoholic parasite" was in trouble and feeling lonely she turned to Mature for love and affection, and he gave her all she wanted.

"Million Dollar Mermaid," also known as "One Piece Bathing Suit", was directed by Mervyn LeRoy (most famous for producing "The Wizard of Oz") and co-starring Victor Mature, Walter Pidgeon and Jesse White. The film begins with Kellerman as a young Australian girl longing to dance, but unable because her legs are in braces. She bravely wanders off to a swimming hole where she enters the water and "begins to swim." We soon see multiple edits of her winning swim race after race. On a boat ride to Europe with her father, she meets Jimmy Sullivan, a vaudeville producer who will soon become her manager and love interest. The film follows her rise as a carnival act, headliner at New York's famous Hippodrome theater, and her eventual work in Hollywood. The whole story is the typical musical standard, girl meets boy, falls in love, loses boy and finally come together by the end of the picture. But since this is taken from a true story I wanted a little more. Maybe if it read "inspired by the life of Annette Kellerman" because it all seems a little too much like a tall tale to me. In fact most of the plot of the film is quite fictitious, including Kellerman's romance with Hippodrome producer David Brian and her accident on the set of "Neptune's Daughter." Although she would end up marrying her manager Jimmy Sullivan, he did not discover Rin Tin Tin. I guess I shouldn't look into "fiction" too much since it is just a vehicle for Esther Williams, and it is quite entertaining.


Saying that this film is a musical might throw some people off since it's missing two of the elements you'd aspect from that genre, namely singing and dancing. Many of Williams other films would have co-stars such as Jimmy Durante, Tommy Dorsey and opera stars to supply the musical numbers, but this particular film is without. But the aquatic sequences are staged and filmed like the most elaborate MGM musical numbers, even to the point of having the choreography done by Busby Berkeley (one of his last credited) and Audrene Brier. Berkeley's classic over the head shot showing the "chorus girls" making kaleidoscope moves below is only enhanced by the fluid synchronized swimming moves, as Williams drops from trapeze into the circle below. It is these numbers that make the whole film something special. They are surreal in nature, with the "swimmers" flying in on trapeze through bright red, technicolor smoke or zipping down 3-story water slides. I can't imagine the time to practice these pieces and the amount of takes it took to get what's on film. The possibility of just 1 of the 100's of swimmers to accidentally slip during each lengthy shot almost adds a tension to the piece. The now famous, "fountain and smoke" sequence is included in many documentaries on film, including "That's Entertainment III" (1994). The film would end up being one of the top money makers for MGM and would receive an Academy Award nomination in the Cinematography (Color) category.

It would actually be quite interesting if Hollywood or the Australian film industry would produce a more true to life film around Kellerman. Her life from early disability, to sports star, woman's rights advocate, vaudeville and finally movie star is perfect for the screen. I can see someone like Kate Winslet, a native Australian, completely doing it justice.