Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Showing Off my Beatles Knowledge



So as I'm sure you could tell from Danni's posts, we are snowed in. I am going a bit stir crazy and decided to watch the wonderful movie Across the Universe and try and catch all the Beatles references that are not songs sung in the movie.
Here is what I have so far:





  • The Beatles were from Liverpool just like Jude.
  • Sadie's name references the song Sexy Sadie and the boys comment on her sexiness when they first meet her.
  • Dr. Robert references the song Doctor Robert
  • Molly (Jude's first girlfriend) and Desmond (Jude's boss) are from the song Ob-la-di-ob-la-da
  • Jojo's name comes from the song Get Back.
  • Max is a main character referencing Maxwell's Silver Hammer. Max hammers out a fan, Sadie jokes about him "killing his Grannie with a hammer" and he stole his fathers golf clubs (kind of silver hammers), all directly referencing the song. Max is poor goof-off student referencing the specific lyrics "Back in School/Maxwell Plays the Fool Again"
  • In the shipyard where Jude works there is a tanker with a yellow underside referencing Yellow Submarine
  • Jude's life journey is very similar to that of John Lennon.
  • The camera shot outside of Jude and Max's apartment shows four windows. The windows represent the four members of The Beatles. One window is rusted and dirty with broken glass, meant to represent George Harrison and his tumultuous life. A second window is shown in the light with its shutters open, meant to represent Paul McCartney. This second window is casting a shadow over the third window. This third window, meant to represent John Lennon and placed in darkness by the second window's shadow, features an Asian-appearing woman in the window. This woman represents Yoko Ono and how she became the center of John Lennon's life. Finally the fourth window, with its shutters closed and being smaller than the others, represents Ringo Starr, who was the most reserved of the band members.
  • The "T" in the title Across the Universe is dropped slightly, just like it is on Ringo's drum in "The Beatles"
  • The Strawberry thing as well as a reference to Strawberry Fields is in reference to the artwork for Paul McCartney's first solo album, "McCartney"
  • The man who gives Jude his ticket says "When I'm 64... " referencing the song When I'm Sixty-four.
  • The guitar Jojo uses is the same color as Lennon's Casino
  • During the song With a Little Help from My Friends (Not the Beatles original version, I would like to point out) the boys are jumping around in an open Field, similar to the scene from "A Hard Days Night"
  • Lucy has a picture of George Harrison and John Lennon in her room.
  • The funeral scene is very similar to scene from "Yellow Submarine"
  • The number 9 is used a lot in the movie, you find it all over the place. This was a big number in Beatles culture, due to their recording Revolution 9.
  • Prudence comes in through the bathroom window and Jude says those words referencing the song She Came in Through the Bathroom Window.
  • Prudence locks herself in the closet and has to be serenaded out by the other cast members. This is a reference to a real occurrence in India where the Beatles we studying. A girl there named Prudence, was reclusive and did not leave her living quarters to join the other students, inspiring John Lennon to write the song "Dear Prudence." This is also a subtle reference to the Prudence's reluctance to 'come out of the closet' in relation to her sexual orientation.
  • Jude singing to Lucy as she sleeps is a reference to Golden Slumbers
  • The whole bus thing is a reference the "The Pranksters" which were real, and the Beatles referenced them in their movie as well.
  • The blue people in the Mr. Kites song are reference to the Blue Meanies from "Yellow Submarine"
  • Sadie's record company "Strawberry Jamz" is a play on the Beatles company "Apple Corps"
  • Jude and Lucy's underwater scene is reference to the Rolling Stones cover showing John Lennon and Yoko Ono in a similar embrace
  • The roof concert is a clear reference to the very similar Beatles roof concert (Their last live concert)
  • In the movie "Yellow Submarine" during the song Eleanor Rigby someone gets trapped in a telephone booth, very much like Lucy does during the riot.
  • At the very end, Jude sees Lucy on another rooftop wearing a diamond necklace. She is higher up than him so he sees Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Those were the ones I could find, although I would not be surprised if there are more. There were also some that are too obvious to be listed, so you can figure them out.
Hooray for being a hardcore Beatles fan!

If you haven't seen Across the Universe go see it! NOW!!

Love and Lollipops,
Robyn

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