Monday, July 22, 2013

Cloud Atlas 2012

Cloud Atlas
     This is adapted from a 2004 novel by David Mitchell and made by a German independent film company.  Various narrative threads weave in and out of each other plus in and out of several different historical time periods.  They illustrate mankind’s quest for tolerance and peace throughout the ages from 1849 to 2321.  Everything is connected, a diary of an ocean voyage across the Pacific, letters from a composer, a thriller about a nuclear power plant, a publisher in a nursing home, a rebellious clone in futuristic Korea, a tribe living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii.  Each actor in the basic ensemble appears in multiple roles as their stories move through time.
     The subject matter here are deep, heaven and the afterlife, karma and the transmigration of souls, the ancient belief in life as a repetitive cycle with eternal recurrence, the uncertainty principle, the theory of relativity, transformational experience and déjà vu.  To condense this down to a basic idea, I think it is personal freedom and safety.  I found my mind wandering and distracted by  trying to keep track of the core group of actors in spite of their different disguises.  There is a lot packed into this film and it’s long!!  3* (This movie is OK)  

172 min Drama directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer with  Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw.

Note:  Blockbuster 2 ½*, imdb 7.6 out of 10, 66% critic 69% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

No comments:

Post a Comment