Hanscom - Across the Universe

The film Across the Universe was made entirely created in response to the songs by the English rock band, the Beatles. I was drawn to this film immediately when I watched the trailer years ago because of the music. The main character is named Jude based from the Beatles song "Hey Jude", which is a song about a man who is encouraged by his friends to go after a girl that he loved but lost. The movie is set in the 60's during the turbulent Civil rights and hippie movement. The film makers wanted to emphasize the emotion associated during this time in American history, and did so through their music choices and artistic depictions of scenes.

For instance, the film makers depict scenes of rebellion using psychedelic images associated with drug use during this time. There was one scene where Bono, the existential drug guru, is singing "I am the Walrus". The images seem really colorful and the camera is almost swirling out of control. The film makers were trying to depict a scene where it was clear that everyone in the room was tripping out.

Another interesting part of the film is Jude's paintings that he creates in response to the war in Vietnam. Jude was not able to join his friends in the American army to fight the war because he was not a citizen. The art he created was a way for him to express his sympathy for his friends fighting in the war, while publicly protesting America's involvement in Vietnam to suppress the Communists. The piece he creates of field of strawberries I believe is really excellent. The strawberries symbolize grenades, as well as the blood spilled on both sides in the war.