The Triangle

Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: MCT Campus

Across the Universe saw its American theatrical release back in Oct. 12, 2007, and was released on DVD Feb. 5. It was unarguable that this film was not incredibly ambitious, and for the most part, that ambition held true to the end product. The film itself has been so disgustingly described as a simple series of music videos with no coherent connection and serving only as a larger than life homage to The Beatles. I find these words to be overly harsh and incorrect to what the film truly is: a beautiful blend of imagination and creativity.

The film opens by following Jude (Jim Sturgess), the movie's young, Liverpudlian protagonist, in his search for his American G.I. father, Wes (Robert Clohessy). Once Jude makes it over to the states, he befriends Max (Joe Anderson), a young angst-filled student, and his sister (and soon-to-be love interest), Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Soon thereafter Max drops out of college, moving to New York City, accompanied by Jude. The two then try to establish themselves, Max as a taxi-driver and Jude as a freelance artist. Not too long after, Max is drafted into the Vietnam War at the same time that Jude and Lucy start to develop a romance. The war acts as a catalyst in manifesting the young lovers' differences and their opposite perspectives start to escalate and cause friction, putting their love through a rather severe test.



The events in the film, while broken up with small segments of dialogue, mostly unfold through clever renditions of classic songs from The Beatles; 37 Beatles songs are featured through out the duration of the film. There really is not much more reason to read on if you are a current Beatles fan; I can almost guarantee that you will whole heartedly enjoy this film. However, there is still much left to the film for those that do not consider themselves fans of the Beatles. While the songs actually do very well in conveying this bumpy love story of the '60 s counterculture and the covers are genuinely good, there is still the very vivid visual aspect of the film to consider.

The musical segments are complimented with scenes that range from the more traditional, such as the active singing cast running about everyday environments, to the truly morbid - several pasty white women standing on wooden poles, falling backward into water. Admittedly, some bits of this film you will see will certainly make no sense to you; not entire scenes, no, but smaller segments of them will definitely have you baffled. Though clueless, I did enjoy the quirky direction that some portions of the film took.

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