Across the Universe with Eddie

Just saw "Across the Universe", a film made using the Beatles songs, symbolism and footage from the era. The best known actor, at least to me, was Eddie Izzard. This guy can do this with his eyes closed, as they say. Everything he does is just perfect for the situation. This particular scene would have been difficult for another actor. He is perfectly cast. Bravo.

The rest of the film was an emotional rollercoster ride: Expectant good times fold under the weight of war, death and destruction, then love saves the survivors. The storyline includes insinuations of personages the 60's and 70's incuded, like Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Yoko Ono, Jerry Garcia. The singing voices were expert, making it easy to hear someone other than Paul or John singing their own tunes. The psychedelic colours reflected the hallucinogenic factors of the drug world. Ken Keasey made an appearance and we almost got to see Timothy Leary.

I read a lot about these subjects last year and got more out of the film knowing what it meant, so it's probably too weird for the mainstream youngsters of today to appreciate. My son was interested in the drug scene back then (crap) but it was a good plaform for discussion. There seems to be so much less of a drug problem, now, but maybe I see it that way because I went to art school :)