Just watched Across the Universe. Jen and I bought the musical a month ago when we went with Glen and Camille to the sultanate of quiapo to eat that quintessential halal chicken (we ate in the new eateries that don't have those chicks anymore) and bought DVDs afterward. The moview is awesome! I guess one is always under the shadow of the Beatles's wings even in watching the film four decades after the presumptive context. It will take time to think over the politics of its aesthetics as it just seems to have made the social and cultural temper of the times as a kind of set in the staging of emotional Beatlemania. But man, the visuals are astounding! One sees the paper mache higantes used during the anti-war protest that turn into carnival figures when the youngsters went into the haven of spiritual retreat. Particularly moving is Let It Be where Lucy learns of her first boyfriend's death juxtaposed with the murder of a black child singing the song amidst the riot. I Want You shows Max Corrigan's drafted into the war akin to an assembly-line manufacturing of youth into soldiers of war. Later on this would be defaced in Strawberry Fields as Jude's attempt to draw still life falls apart, strawberries marvelously transfigured to bombs pelting Vietnam. And there is direct irony here in that one understands that the specialized art of making still life runs contrary to the anarchic turn of events in the East and at home. And the soldiers do look menacing as they also look eerie in dancing the draftees into war with their masked faces. The boys then, in a kind of fantasy, bring liberty's statue to the tropics. Still another good singing is the chaos/fight scene (running all throughout the film) in Revolution where Jude mocks Lucy's involvement in a 'radical' group as he staves off any extra-personal/individual commitment. Come to think of it: the bastard leaves England to meet his father and got sucked up in America's quandary that paves way for the film's eventual unfolding. The story will remain in my mind for days.
5:17 am
16 April 2008
2 comments:
(ngayon lang ako magko-comment sa blog mo, jpaul. hehehe)
sorry, pero sobrang hindi ko nagustuhan yung across the universe. nagwalk out, este, in-eject ko na nga yung dvd pagdating sa you say you want a revolution part. postmodernismong totoo, pero wala man lang madederive na meaning after the spectacle. to boot, the beatles songs were stripped off of their meanings. plus, napaka-thin ng plot na pang-chick flick sans the musical part. sorry to rain on your parade, pero feeling ko ito ang high school musical 1960s version.
julie taymor's strength lies in the rendering of the visuals like what she did in frida and titus, since sa teatro naman siya nagsimula. hands down, pero hindi ba zuper OA na yung iba partikular yung sa bowling alley na hindi ko mawari kung anung nagaganap.
pero nakakatuwa pa rin siyang pag-usapan bilang series of vignettes. ang weird kasi para na siyang mtv, and to think ang "mtv art" will come much later pa.
naalala ko tuloy yung pinabasa sa amin ni edel na essay ni jameson an periodizing the 60s. along with the disintegration ng colonies, is the creation of imperial institutions such as WB/IMF etc. para rin ito yung pinabasa ng isang kaibigan sa amin na essay sa salon.com, na wala namang lasting importance na iniwan ang 60s.
wala lang. nagulat lang ako na nagustuhan mo. hehehehhe. pasensya na na-agitate lang ako masyado ng across the universe, kaya i feel obliged na sabihin ang mga kritisismo ko sa pelikula hehehhe.
at sa spirit na rin ng 60s, peace!
jayson
Hi Jason! Salamat sa kritisismo. Nagustuhan ko talaga ang visuals ng pelikula pero sa simula pa lang ay nabatid ko na na palalabnawin nito ang pagkakaunawa sa konteksto. Kasi nga ipinatong lang ang mga kanta ng Beatles sa personal na kuwento ng mga tauhan at contrived ang pagkakatanghal ng mga panlipunan at pampulitikang usapin. The Vietnam war and the civl rights subjects are just referred to but not deftly explored in the struggles of the characters. Aestheticized ang mga pulitikal na usapin ng panahon sa pamamagitan ng "pag-emote" lamang ng mga personal na trobol ng mga tauhan. Maaari namang may mataas na antas ng kasiningan ang isang likha kahit na bagsak sa pamantayang pampulitika. Sa partikular na naisin nga lamang ng 'Across the Universe', hindi nila ito maaari/makakayanang pagtugmain batay sa isang progresibong misyon. Hindi ba sa bastardong Englishman nagsimula ang istorya? Kung ang krisis ang anak, hindi natugunan ang mga suliraning lumikha at siyang naging magulang ng mga suliraning bumabatbat sa indibidwal at kolektibo nilang mga buhay. I share your reactions that I too was agitated in how it all was reduced to spectacle and melos.
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