A double layered nostalgia: 'The Sixties, the Iraq War and The Beatles in Julie Taymor's Across the Universe (2007)
This paper examines the nostalgic and utopian impulses of Julie Taymor's Beatles musical Across the Universe (2007) The Beatles' song catalogue informs the characters, lyrics, narration, diegesis and vision of 1960s America, taking the film's music past the functions of a compilation score, soundtrack musical or Sixties flick. Across the Universe is characteristic of modern musicals in that it is heavily influenced by the music video aesthetic and reflects the mining of pop music history enabled by the contemporary digital music era. As such, the way the film uses The Beatles' music and produces nostalgia is symptomatic of 2000s musical culture that accesses discourses of musical performance and authenticity located in 1960s rock and roll. This paper examines the various ways music is used in Across the Universe, arguing the film validates its nostalgic vision by incorporating The Beatles into every aspect of production. The film also encourages active audience participation in its reimagining of the Sixties through remembering and reprocessing The Beatles' music and stardom.