The Beatles Meet the Big Screen : A Director’s Point Of View
By Nicole Bley

John Lennon once said on the Ed Sullivan show, “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus.” Although a bold statement, Lennon had a point – the Beatles had thousands of fans follow them wherever they went, and are among one of the few musical acts to sell over a billion records internationally. This critically acclaimed band has had its songs covered by countless artistes, including Elton John; Earth, Wind and Fire; Chaka Khan; U2; Stone Temple Pilots; Aerosmith, and more. There are many different reasons musicians choose to cover Beatles songs. Some might find that the lyrics are personal and relate to the events in their lives. Others might have been inspired by the Beatles to become musicians in the first place. Julie Taymor knew she loved the Beatles and wanted to find a way to incorporate them into her line of work: directing. Taymor loves taking works from others, and putting her own twists on them. She admits though, that remaking the Beatles would be hard. According to an interview with The New York Times, “The Beatles songs are perfect, perfectly arranged, perfectly sung. That’s why the movie version needs to be a complete departure.” On October 12, 2007, Taymor’s Across The Universe was released. This movie is based on interpretations of Beatles songs, and demonstrates why the band is bigger than Jesus, at least in Taymor’s eyes.

In 1965, Beatles member John Lennon wrote the song “Girl”, a song that is full of mystery and surprises. Lennon has said that he wrote this song for many reasons, one of which was to describe his ideal woman that he often saw in his dreams. According to Walter Everett’s book, The Beatles As Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology, Lennon has said, “I always had this dream of this particular woman coming into my life. I knew it would be someone buying Beatles’ records. I was hoping for a woman who could give me what I get from a man intellectually. I wanted someone I could be myself with.” However, when one listens to the song, the dream girl seems completely opposite of what some might think of as perfect. When paying close attention to the lyrics, you come across the line, “She’s the kind of girl who puts you down. When friends are there, you feel a fool.” Lennon portrays two different personalities in this dream girl: one very loving and sweet, the other conceited and heartless. Taymor uses this song as the opening for her movie. It introduces the main character, Jude, who travels to America in search of his military father. Although the full song is not played, you hear Jude sing the very short lines, “Is there anybody going to listen to my story? All about the girl who came to stay? She’s the kind of girl you want so much it makes you sorry. Still, you don't regret a single day.” Taymor uses these lines as a foreshadowing of the movie’s plot, which is essentially a journey through Jude’s life.

Shortly after this scene, audiences briefly meet Jude’s current and future love interests. First is his current love in Liverpool, a dark-clothes-wearing, rock-and-roll type of girl. Next, we see a blond, all-American sweetheart, whom Jude has not met yet in America. Like Lennon’s lyrics, these girls are complete opposites. Their characters bring drama and love into the movie.

In 1961 Paul McCartney wrote “Hold Me Tight”, a song greatly inspired by the New Jersey girl group, The Shirelles. Among the songs written by the band members, this track seems to be the least favorite. McCartney has said, "I can't remember much about that one. Certain songs were just 'work' songs; you haven't got much memory of them. That's one of them.” John Lennon has also given his opinion on the track stating, “I was never really interested in it either way.” While the track and tempo seem innocent, the song is actually very erotic. According to a diary kept by McCartney, the song expresses being alone with a girl and ‘making love’. Although it was not important to the band, Taymor uses this track to clearly justify the differences between Jude and Lucy. The scene starts out in an upscale high school prom. A gold disco ball leads you onto the floor full of young couples dancing, all of whom are wearing white suits and dresses. Lucy is singing to her current boyfriend, who is about to go off to war. After verse one, there is a quick switch into a completely different scene, a rock band, dressed in all black, entertains a group of young rebels in an underground lounge. Taymor also uses this opportunity to let Jude and Lucy say goodbye to their current loves, and begin their journey to each other.

While McCartney did not have luck with “Hold Me Tight”, he would with “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” In 1963, McCartney teamed up with Lennon to write a song that would help the Beatles break into the American market. During this time, not many British artists had the opportunity to achieve success in America. Their manager, Brian Epstein, encouraged the boys to write a song while visiting Peter Asher, of the Everly Brothers, at his home. The Beatles were currently signed to American record label, Capitol, and promised that their first single would be just for their American fans. To the teenage girls obsessed with the Beatles, holding hands would be the ultimate complement. When McCartney played a random chord on the piano, Lennon burst out with the words, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” According to Tim Riley’s book, Tell Me Why? The Beatles: Album-by-Album, Song by Song, the Sixties and After Lennon has said, “In those days, we really used to write like that- both playing in each other’s noses.” Thanks to this unique partnership, in January 1964, the Beatles had their first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. While the Beatles used this song to launch their career in America, Taymor used it to launch a new character.

In this scene we meet Prudence, a high-school cheerleader. Prudence begins singing “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to a group of football players and cheerleaders; it is obvious she is trying to confess her love to someone. The crowd breaks up and there is just one man and woman left. When the lines, “oh please, say to me, you’ll let me be your man” appear, the scene reveals that she is actually in love with the girl. Prudence continues to sing, as she walks her way through a crowd of tackling football players, making her to way to a city and atmosphere she feels more comfortable with.

Another song created by the famous duo, Lennon-McCartney, was, “I’ve Just Seen a Face.” The melody was a favorite of McCartney, who began playing it during family gatherings as a child. The song was originally called “Auntie Gin’s Theme” after their biggest fan, McCartney’s Aunt Gin. Taymor uses this song shortly after Lucy and her brother Max’s own family gathering. Max invites Jude along to their Thanksgiving dinner, where Jude finally realizes his infatuation with Lucy. After ditching the family, Max, Lucy, and Jude head to a near by bowling alley, where they dance and play tricks on each other just like some kids might do when they begin a crush.

The final single by the Beatles, released in 1970, symbolized a dark period in the group’s journey. McCartney wrote “Let It Be” after witnessing the group falling apart. Many of the band members no longer wanted to spend time with each other, and scheduling a recording session was almost impossible. At this time, John Lennon was married to Yoko Ono, with whom the group felt uncomfortable; George Harrison was no longer a member; and Ringo Starr would prefer to be on vacation than around the group’s drama. McCartney quoted in the Beatles Let It Be documentary, “We haven’t been positive. That’s why all of us in turn have been sick of the group. There’s nothing positive in it. It’s a bit of a drag.” As McCartney took the role of leader and tried to put the group back together, many members began to resent him. “Let It Be” was the outcome of how Paul was feeling from all of the pressure. “I really was passing through my ‘hour of darkness’ and writing the song was my way of exorcising the ghosts.” Listing to the song, you can feel the modern hymn style and religious inspiration, especially since one line mentions “mother Mary.” While most people believed this was a reference to the Virgin Mary, in reality it was McCartney’s mother Mary who was mentioned. Paul’s mother had died when he was just fourteen, but would dream about her frequently. The night before the song was written, his mother had appeared to him and gave him strength during one of his darkest hours. Taymor uses every detail from the history behind this song in one of the movie scenes. “Let It Be” is played in one of the saddest moments of Across the Universe. The song begins right after Lucy learns that her boyfriend has died in the war. There is a quick switch to a scene full of street fighting and police beatings. A young child is singing behind a burned car, scared of revealing himself. Taymor merged two different scenes together to show the audience there is also a war going on in the States, in this case, Detroit. A female gospel voice begins, and the scene turns into two funerals: one for Lucy’s boyfriend, the other for the child who was previously singing. At the child’s funeral we see a man who is so deeply saddened that he walks out of the service, and leaves for New York City in hopes of a different life. This is how viewers meet Jojo, a Jimi Hendrix-like guitarist.

In 1969, Timothy Leary ran for governor of California and was good friends with John Lennon. Leary asked if Lennon could write a song that would be used in commercials and performed at his rallies that used the current slogan, “come together, join the party.” That very minute, Lennon picked up his guitar and wrote, “Come together right now. Don’t come tomorrow. Don’t come alone. Come together right now over me. All that I can tell you, is you gotta be free.” Not pleased with those lyrics, Lennon wrote a couple of more versions and sent it off to Leary. While Leary used this song in his campaign, Lennon was recording it with the Beatles back in England. There are two lines referring to an “old flat top” which pays homage to Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me.”

While this song combines politics with music, Taymor uses it to combine all her characters in New York City. Joe Cocker, a singer greatly influenced by the Beatles, makes a cameo as the singing homeless man, hippie, and pimp, that greats Jojo. Walking outside, Jojo is introduced to the many different residents of New York. First a group of prostitutes and drug addicts; second the busy men and women of Wall Street; third the hippies from the Village; and last Sadie, the Janice Joplin-like singer. While all the characters move to New York in hope of finding a new beginning, it is now that Max, Lucy, Jude, Prudence, Sadie, and Jojo finally all come together in one apartment.

“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” is a song written by Lennon that consists of only one single line: “I want you, I want you so bad, I want you, I want you so bad, it’s driving me mad.” Lennon, at this time in his life, was a big fan of minimalist art and felt that the simplicity of the lyrics made the song superior to all of the bands’ previous songs. Lennon also used this as a love song to Yoko, who wrote her own minimalist poem consisting of the single word “water”. Taymor used the simplicity of the song and combined it with the most artistic visuals of the whole movie to give the audience a brief shock. The scene starts off with Max receiving a letter stating he must go into the army. This breaks Lucy’s heart since she recently lost her boyfriend in the war. Max tries everything he can to be denied acceptance into the military, including swallowing cotton and admitting he is a “cross-dressing homosexual pacifist with a spot on his lung”. As Max walks up the steps into the government building, an Uncle Sam poster is singing directly to him. At that moment, Uncle Sam’s hand grabs Max and pushes him into a room full of over-dramatized soldiers. These military men pull of his clothes and send him into a room with other hopeful soldiers. In this room, all the soldiers are given many different medical tests including getting their eyes looked at, giving blood and checking reflexes. At the end, all the naked hopefuls are carrying the Statue of Liberty through a war field into freedom. Max is unfortunately approved and will now be sent off to war.

Among one of the most famous psychedelic rock songs by the Beatles has to be “I Am The Walrus.” Lennon wrote this song in 1967 after combining many different ideas together. The first two lines, “I am he, as you are he, as you are me, and we are all together. See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly,” all came from a vision Lennon had while tripping on acid. A police siren he heard while at home in Weybridge inspired the lines, “Mister City Policeman sitting. Pretty little policemen in a row.” Other inspirations came from the garden in his backyard and a nonsense song he wrote about sitting on a cornflake. A former teacher had his students analyze Beatles lyrics, and when Lennon heard of this, he included a bunch of nonsense words and ludicrous images into the song for fun. This included, “elementary penguins”, “texpert” and “crablocker.” Clearly a man with humor, Lennon also referenced the Animal’s vocalist Eric Burdon. According to Robert Fontenot’s I Am The Walrus, Burdon is the “eggman” since he often cracked eggs over his female partners while having sex. Taymor used the theme from this song to produce one of the most colorful and acid like scenes in the entire movie. Making a cameo is U2’s Bono, who plays Dr. Robert, an author that spreads the word of love. Dr. Robert begins by giving a speech and then uses the song as part of it. Slowly, the background colors start changing, and the scenes start to get blurry. All of a sudden the scenes turn into thermal colors and the characters board a bus to a random place. Max states that he “doesn’t remember how they got there” and Dr. Robert starts saying random things like “masturbating alligators”, “eating tatters”, “bombardiers we got no fears”, clearly adding Lennon’s inspiration to the scene.

In 1966, John Lennon began filming the role of Private Gripweed in Dick Lester’s film, How I Won The War. While filming in Spain, Lennon would often go to the beach and compose a ‘slow talking-blues’ called “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The song portrayed Lennon’s thoughts on how he was different than everyone else, and that he saw and felt things other people didn’t. The original lines included, “no one is on my wavelength,” but was changed to “no one I think is in my tree,” to help disguise Lennon’s arrogance. Lennon tried to get across the point that either he was a genius or he was insane because no one understood his thinking. Lennon gets the name Strawberry Fields from a Salvation Army orphanage he used to play in when he was younger. According to Steve Turner’s A Hard Days Write, while making nightly visits to Strawberry Fields, Lennon and his friends would say that “the visits were like Alice’s escaped down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass. I was entering in another world, a world more closely corresponded with my inner world, and it was a feeling of drug-free psychedelia.” According to an interview with Playboy, Lennon would often have hallucinatory images of his face when looking into the mirrors there.

Taymor uses Lennon’s feeling of being alone and transfers it into her character Jude. In this scene Lucy yells at Jude for not protesting against the war, and claims all he does is paint; she does not understand it. Jude, feeling alone and unable to draw a decent picture, begins a psychedelic paint scene with strawberries. Jude pins dozens of strawberries in rows to symbolize all the soldiers in the war. The strawberries then appear to start bleeding, just like many of those dying in the war. At one point, strawberries begin to drop in the war zone, just like bombs.

In 1967, BBC was producing a 125-minute program that would be broadcast across twenty-six countries including Europe, North America, North Africa, Japan and Australia. They approached the Beatles in hopes of them writing a song that would be understood by viewers of all nationalities. Lennon began writing one of the most influential and famous songs, “All You Need Is Love.” While the song was simple, it clearly portrayed the hopes of the youth in the 1960’s. During this time, the Vietnam War was at its most intense hour and the ‘love generation’ appeared in heavy protests. Manager Brian Epstein has said, “The nice thing about it is that it cannot be misinterpreted. It is a clear message saying that love is everything.”

While this was the message the Beatles wanted the world to know, Taymor used it as her finale. In the film, the war is coming to an end, and Jude is returning back to the United States after being sent to England. In this scene Sadie reunites with Jojo and Prudence in her final performance to the world on a rooftop. As the cops come in and break the concert up for noise disturbance, Jude hides until they are gone. When the coast is clear, Jude jumps on the microphone and sings, “All You Need Is Love” in hopes of finding Lucy. While Lucy is denied entrance into the building, she sneaks onto the roof across the street and appears with a reference to another Beatles song, “She Loves You”, answering Jude’s prayer.

With every song comes different interpretations, and it is fun to get into the directors head to see different views of the Beatles. Taymor used the history and stories behind all the lyrics to produce one of the most visually astounding movies. Next time you listen to some of your favorite song, close your eyes and see what visuals comes into your head.