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Rating: The Beatles are considered the greatest band of all time. Far from judging the actual validity of this, one cannot deny that the immense crowd of fans of all ages, nations, and social backgrounds solidifies them as such at least in terms of popularity. They are sacred monsters, a truly unsinkable myth. In my opinion, this leads to two things: there are those who would like to crystallize their music with ideals they have built in their own heads and never see their songs manipulated in any way (the "purists," and there are quite a few), and there are also those who approach it in a less "religious" manner and therefore know how to enjoy every occasion to listen again to the pearls that the Liverpool group has managed to leave behind.
Personally, I found this film beautiful. The idea is winning, and perhaps this is another thing that initially made many people wrinkle their noses. The plot is quite fitting; ultimately, around the main story between Jude, an English shipyard worker who emigrates to America to meet his father, and Lucy, a good girl from the American middle class, revolve like satellites the events of Max, called to arms in Vietnam at the height of his life, the torments of Prudence, attracted to the alluring vocalist Sadie who is in turn divided between her relationship with the guitarist Jojo (an ideal liaison, this, between Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix) and her career.
The Beatles' songs are majestic protagonists but not pretentious: someone wrote that to fit some songs, the story was altered to the point of making no sense, but honestly, I don't understand where this would occur. The arrangements have never betrayed the spirit of the songs of Lennon-McCartney & co., although I confess that, never having had the Beatles cult, many of the 32 songs used in the film were unknown to me or I had only heard them fleetingly. Surely, and I say this without shame, I discovered some masterpieces precisely thanks to this film.
The Deluxe edition of the soundtrack consists of two CDs for 29 songs (inexplicably, "I Want You", "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" were left out, the other was the instrumental hint of "A Day In The Life"). The first CD opens with the intro of "Girl", and it is immediately clear that these are songs rearranged for a musical: the voices of the performers (all excellent, ed.) manage to infuse all the intention proper to acting. Next, "Hold Me Tight" in American prom party style, sung by the beautiful voice of Evan Rachel Wood. "All My Loving", "I Want To Hold Your Hand" with a vaguely '80s arrangement, and a lazy version of "With A Little Help From My Friends" follow. Beautiful, but it gets lost in the needlessly shouted outro. "It Won't Be Long", again sung by Wood, is pumped and lively, "Dear Prudence" is interpreted with multiple voices, but it is one of the less exciting episodes of the entire CD.
In this first part, the standout tracks are definitely the gospel version of "Let It Be", perhaps the most original and, in its audacity, the most successful arrangement of the whole bunch, Joe Cocker's blues in "Come Together" (quite faithful to the original) and all the emotion conveyed once again by Evan Rachel's voice during the poignant performance of "If I Fell". The CD closes with the instrumental of "Flying" and a dark-hued version of the Harrisonian "Blue Jay Way".
The best comes in the second CD. "I Am The Walrus" is indeed sung by Bono, but despite this, it's a great piece, it feels like listening to the '90s U2. Eddie Izzard, an actor little known to us, tackles "For The Benefit Of Mr Kite!" adding little new, apart from a spoken piece in pure circus style in the second half of the track. "Because" is so beautiful in itself that it's always a risk to make a new version. Still, even here they didn't stray far from the original choral interpretation. "Something" is engagingly reinterpreted by the lovely voice of Jim Sturgess, which is very, very similar to Ewan McGregor's in "Moulin Rouge", the male lead of the film and almost ubiquitous voice in this soundtrack.
It's hard to find weak points in this second tranche, perhaps because it contains the best songs, the most mature ones from the Liverpool quartet. As if to draw a parallel with the development of the film's plot and the life path of the protagonists, from the carefree initial events to the problems and inevitable torments of growing up. Thus follow, in multiple voices or interpreted individually, a series of masterful pieces. "Strawberry Fields Forever" has a great rock setup, "Revolution" continues in the same line, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in Hendrix-like version, "Across The Universe" solemn in its mantric outro, "Helter Skelter" entrusted to the roars of Sadie/Fuchs (which deliberately recalls Janis Joplin) saves all its proto-hard rock charge, "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" is rough, seductive and scratchy. Up to yet another peak of the work, "Blackbird"; veils of accordion and guitar etch Evan Rachel's voice (which only reappears now in the second part) giving you chills down your spine for three minutes. "Hey Jude" really adds nothing, something that "All You Need Is Love" does instead, in this case much more beautiful than the original (which never thrilled me), thanks to the lowered tone chorus performed with multiple voices.
It closes with the peppery "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", once again entrusted to Bono's voice and The Edge's guitar. Those who appreciated the film, but also anyone who hasn't seen it and knows how to recognize well-done things, will certainly be thrilled to listen to the songs on this double CD. Even without being a fan of the four beetles. Indeed, perhaps precisely because of this, one will approach it with fewer prejudices.
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