Monday, December 31, 2012

Cloud Atlas


LEAD CAST: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Zhou Xun, Keith Davi, Sudan Sarandon, Hugh Grant  DIRECTOR:  Lana & Andy Wachowski & Tom Tykwer  SCREENWRITER:   Lana & Andy Wachowski & Tom Tykwer  PRODUCER: Grant Hill & Stefan Amdt  EDITOR:  Alexander Berner  MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil  GENRE:  Drama & Science Fiction  CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Frank Greiber RUNNING TIME:  163 minutes  DISTRIBUTOR:  Warner Bros. Pictures  LOCATION:  Germany

Technical assessment:  3.5
Moral assessment:  2
CINEMA rating:  V 18 

Cloud Atlas threads together six stories that examine how the actions of individuals impact one another in the past, present and future.  The six stories take the viewer from the South Pacific in year 1849 to in the nineteenth century to a distant, post-apocalyptic future in year 2321. According to novelist David Mitchell who wrote the original (novel Cloud Atlas) in 2004, the film is structured, “as a sort of pointillist mosaic: We stay in each of the six worlds just long enough for the hook to be sunk in, and from then on the film darts from world to world at the speed of a plate-spinner, revisiting each narrative for long enough to propel it forward.”
Critics are divided on Cloud Atlas.  Seeing the film previewed at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival where it received a 10-minute standing ovation, film critics either acclaimed it as one of the most important films of the year, or shrugged it off as a “totally unparalleled disaster.”  The gorgeous sets, makeup and special effects definitely add to the credibility of the characters in this film co-written and directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer.   Cloud Atlas owes its uniqueness to the ambitious casting; big stars play six roles each, appearing in all stories, and reprising their roles with equal elan and competence.
But what is Cloud Atlas trying to say to the contemporary man?  The six narratives are independent of one another and yet they are united in celebrating positive values, above all the dignity of all human beings.  Due to its complexity, however, this is a movie that may need several viewings to be fully appreciated, and even then it will be comprehended individually, in accordance with each viewer’s capacity to intuit its worth.  This would be a nice film to watch (even on DVD) with the whole family—it could lead to profound discussions even among teenagers.