Case in point: director Julie Tambor’s Across The Universe, due out next year.
I know Beatles fans who are anxious to see how a movie musical could be put together using the using the vast catalog of Lennon/McCartney tunes available. A friend of mine who has enjoyed Tambor’s two previous films, Titus (1999) and Frida (2002) has mentioned how he can’t wait to see the director try her hands at a musical.
But for myself, I was first intrigued by the project when I heard that the screenwriters were Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, whom worked on one of my favorite British television series, Lovejoy. I was familiar with some of their other work – loads of British television, Tracey Ullman’s mid-90s American series Tracey Takes On… , the 2005 soccer film Goal! and of course, the 1991 hit The Commitments. Weird, I know, but sometimes it’s the writer, the one usually so abused by the film production process, that draws me to a specific film.
However, once I saw the trailer for the film, I went from being interested in seeing it, to nearly salivating with anticipation. The trailer is amazingly cut and seems to showcase visuals that are at times gritty and other times psychedelic, but always seem to capture the mood and tone of the changes that society went through in the 1960s, changes reflected in the Beatles own music.
Across The Universe is currently scheduled to open on September 28. And while there are a lot of fun blockbusters to tide me over through the summer months, this prospect of seeing this film by the time autumn roles around will not be far from my mind.
