Across the Universe

In Across the Universe, movement played a big part in helping the story progress and making it better. Lucy was one of the main characters and she had some of the most movement involved with her. Around the middle of the film, her brother gets drafted into the war. Strawberry Fields Forever was a continuation of that storyline, showing everybody's conflicts in the form of war. In that song, Lucy has images projected onto her face. Lucy lets the projection become her expression, leaving her face as a blank canvas. It's an interesting example of movement because the character is so still. It shows how in shock she is, just letting the emotions wash over her. She doesn't really have any sort of emotion because she is too scared to let herself feel. It adds to the gravity of the moment and makes the audience feel the same way she does, even though she isn't moving. The projections on her face move, and that is the movement, but she doesn't, and that's what makes the difference to the audience.

There is another place in the film where Lucy's slight movements convey all of her emotion to the audience. Jude has just finished his song to her and she has made her way up to the roof next to his so she can see him. They are both crying, and then Lucy pushes her hair back and there is a freeze-frame. The tears running down her face created movement and feeling enough, but then she pushes her hair back and everything stops. It shows how she and Jude felt for each other. When she pushes her hair out of the way, pushing away their argument and anything else that was separating them, the movie freezes. It ends with a happy moment of forgiveness, a frozen picture, to remind everyone to forgive and push things away in the name of love. Lucy's small movement was enough to convey so much feeling to the audience. Movement was used to great effect in this film.

Jude, being the other main character, also had a lot of movement involved with his part in the film. When he first realizes that he is falling in love with Lucy, he sings I've Just Seen a Face and slides all around at a bowling alley. He goes down the lane like he's the bowling ball, and then everything get more brightly colored and hectic. Everyone's sliding down the lanes like they're surfing, people are running around and jumping over the ball returns, having a very good time. It is a lot of chaotic movement to show how it feels to fall in love. Wild, out of control, but still a really great time. All of the craziness of I've Just Seen a Face perfectly describes how Jude is feeling, with the help of song lyrics to push it just a little further. Jude went through a lot in the film - he fell in love, his friend went off to war, his lover left,

and he got deported. It did all work out in the end, but it took him singing on a rooftop to find Lucy and her love again. They both are crying, which is very moving. Then Jude bites his lip. This small movement shows how deeply he feels for Lucy. She has already left once, but he's gotten her back and he feels so happy. He bites his lip as a quick, sharp shock, almost as if to wake up from a dream if it isn't real. He thinks that seeing her again is too good to be true, but there she is, on the closest roof she could be. Their relationship, as far as the audience is concerned, hit that happy note and stayed there, because the film ends. All of the roller-coaster feelings that Jude felt he conveyed to the audience using movements both big and small, and it worked very well.