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CLOUD ATLAS |OT| (dir. Wachowskis, Tykwer) Death. Life. Birth.
- Thread starter SCULLIBUNDO
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I swear to god only people that post and or dwells on internet forums believes this.
BigJonsson
Member
Seemed disjointed but at the end it made sense
Just came back from watching this, and I thought it was okay. It's similar to Looper in that I genuinely respect the scope, ambition and bringing all that together, and seeing it connect was half the fun, but it wasn't some complete triumph of film or anything. And my main problem is that it often veered on that line between soulful and schlock at times, but it's ultimately a good message and I suppose that wins out in the end.
So I'd say Cloud Atlas is def worth a watch but keep those expectations in check.
So I'd say Cloud Atlas is def worth a watch but keep those expectations in check.
polyh3dron
Banned
No, the only similarity between this and Speed Racer is how well done the constant transitions between subplots are and how it's able to ramp up the intensity while doing this.
Here's my initial reaction right after seeing the test screening in July.
Ill be seeing it tonight then. Lucky i got a ticket they are always sold out of new releases.
Sickboy007
Member
Just catched the trailer before Killing Them Softly (meh), argh I can't believe I'll have to wait till January.
This film was goddamn amazing.
It tries to do so much, juggle so much at once, and it miraculously never lost me.
The editing is masterful with scene changes, making it feel incredibly cohesive.
I loved it and it stands as another reason why I will never trust critics on Wachowski films.
It tries to do so much, juggle so much at once, and it miraculously never lost me.
The editing is masterful with scene changes, making it feel incredibly cohesive.
I loved it and it stands as another reason why I will never trust critics on Wachowski films.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
The movie has a lot of ambition. It's got a large scope. Very big stuff. It's kinda like six mediocre movies in one!
Devil Theory
Member
Didn't like it as a film. Never read the book, girlfriend dragged me in with no context.
It felt like watching 2 1/2 hours of trailers of different movies, and only after the movie was over figuring out how everything was connected and what the moral lesson was.
Keep in mind, I don't watch many movies and am not a knowledgable critic, this is my base reaction simply from walking in and watching it.
It felt like watching 2 1/2 hours of trailers of different movies, and only after the movie was over figuring out how everything was connected and what the moral lesson was.
Keep in mind, I don't watch many movies and am not a knowledgable critic, this is my base reaction simply from walking in and watching it.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Loved it. I could feel the urge to look at the time at some points but it always brought back in and then there's a point where I was in it till the end. I'm still in awe at how well the transitions were handled, just in that there was a fantastic ebb and flow. The use of levity really helped too when the various scenarios got a little heavy.
I was in awe of this movie. It was certainly an amazing feat. It made great use of the, it could've gone in longer and I wouldn't have minded one bit.
some questions and observations
Now to read the book.
some questions and observations
Were the birth marks intended for the central character of each story?
Here are some stray observations
- I loved hearing the joke about Soylent Green during the Aurora home segment, then exactly seeing the real thing later on during Sonmi's story.
- the only actor who had consistency during every part was Hugo Weaving, who was an antagonist everytime. I really liked that choice.
- i liked how the maruaders in the fall story had blue gems on their gear, which were present during the sea voyage with Jim Sturgess and the stowaway.
- my only serious issue with the movie was the make up for some characters. Some looked awesome, while others looked jarring. It got really distracting at points.
Here are some stray observations
- I loved hearing the joke about Soylent Green during the Aurora home segment, then exactly seeing the real thing later on during Sonmi's story.
- the only actor who had consistency during every part was Hugo Weaving, who was an antagonist everytime. I really liked that choice.
- i liked how the maruaders in the fall story had blue gems on their gear, which were present during the sea voyage with Jim Sturgess and the stowaway.
- my only serious issue with the movie was the make up for some characters. Some looked awesome, while others looked jarring. It got really distracting at points.
Now to read the book.
I liked it a lot, but didn't love it. I am mostly just glad that I was engaged and entertained the whole time -- when I heard this was 3 hours long I was really dreading that 3rd hour. But while I was tempted to check the clock a few times (never did), I was never agonizing and wanting to get out the door. I really didn't care for the Halle Berry/nuclear plant story at all though......felt very tiresome and by-the-numbers. I guess it has to be there for the sake of connecting Sixsmith's story to something, but the main plot there is just such a snooze.
I probably need to have the two "future" stories explained to me better. I think it was probably a bad decision to give Somni a really exaggerated Asian accent, and to have Zachary's post apocalyptic society speak in some barely coherent dialect. Some questions:
Somni escapes, televises messages to the rest of the world (for a decade or so?), gets executed. What happens then? Why is she worshipped as a deity in the future? Do fabricants continue to exist and be produced later on? Are any of the people in Zachry's story suppose to be fabricants or descendants of them?
What brought about the societal collapse and apocalypse? The rising oceans that are mentioned in Somni's story? Who or what is the ridiculous green devil in the top hat that continually taunts Zachry? Just some manifestation of Zachry's subconscious animalistic nature? A hallucination of the leader of the painted outlaws that regularly murder villagers?
Somni escapes, televises messages to the rest of the world (for a decade or so?), gets executed. What happens then? Why is she worshipped as a deity in the future? Do fabricants continue to exist and be produced later on? Are any of the people in Zachry's story suppose to be fabricants or descendants of them?
What brought about the societal collapse and apocalypse? The rising oceans that are mentioned in Somni's story? Who or what is the ridiculous green devil in the top hat that continually taunts Zachry? Just some manifestation of Zachry's subconscious animalistic nature? A hallucination of the leader of the painted outlaws that regularly murder villagers?
zephervack
Member
Amazing movie. I do need to watch it a couple of times more with subtitles on though. So much I missed because of the accents.
Skel1ingt0n
I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
I love (LOVE) all three Matrix movies. The first film is a triumph for the art form, and the second two are incredibly entertaining action movies with a fun sci-fi twist.
I thought Speed Racer was great - even before it's cult status on the internet. I actually saw it Day One with a buddy in theaters and we both thought it was great. Fun, light-hearted, but also incredibly serious with beautiful visuals and masterful editing.
The six minute trailer for Cloud Atlas shot my hype through the roof. I love the Wachowskis, and from what I had read, Cloud Atlas sounded like a film right up my alley - impossible scope with interconnected and overarching themes with sci-fi elements sprinkled in.
I could barely wait to see it tonight.
***
I didn't like it at all. I'd give the film a 2/10. I was just bored. Not a single story was interesting - they were short repeats of themes we've seen a billion times before. They don't really connect at all outside of a general theme. It didn't know if it wanted to be silly or serious - which I can deal with - but it was oddly disjoined at times - especially the whole
story. The nuclear plant story was straight-up pointless (save for needing to make a single connection)- and the action scene toward the end was laughable. The prosthetic were bad. The dialect in the future was just goofy - "Truth truth"?! Meh.
I feel like I'm ranting - but that's only because I'm so disappointed. I really, REALLY wanted to like this film. I still love the concept - but in execution, it just wasn't that special. It spanned a lot of time - that's really about it. I remember reading a quote early on, that I knew was hyperbolic, but it read something like "I can't even conceive of conceiving of this film." Looking back, that guy can't be too bright - nothing seems like it could have been that hard to pen.
With that said, what WOULD be hard - and I give lots of credit to the film for - is editing this movie. The editing in Cloud Atlas is absolutely masterful - possibly the best I've ever seen. It makes Speed Racer look like their high school project. 10/10 Editing.
I thought Speed Racer was great - even before it's cult status on the internet. I actually saw it Day One with a buddy in theaters and we both thought it was great. Fun, light-hearted, but also incredibly serious with beautiful visuals and masterful editing.
The six minute trailer for Cloud Atlas shot my hype through the roof. I love the Wachowskis, and from what I had read, Cloud Atlas sounded like a film right up my alley - impossible scope with interconnected and overarching themes with sci-fi elements sprinkled in.
I could barely wait to see it tonight.
***
I didn't like it at all. I'd give the film a 2/10. I was just bored. Not a single story was interesting - they were short repeats of themes we've seen a billion times before. They don't really connect at all outside of a general theme. It didn't know if it wanted to be silly or serious - which I can deal with - but it was oddly disjoined at times - especially the whole
old people escape
I feel like I'm ranting - but that's only because I'm so disappointed. I really, REALLY wanted to like this film. I still love the concept - but in execution, it just wasn't that special. It spanned a lot of time - that's really about it. I remember reading a quote early on, that I knew was hyperbolic, but it read something like "I can't even conceive of conceiving of this film." Looking back, that guy can't be too bright - nothing seems like it could have been that hard to pen.
With that said, what WOULD be hard - and I give lots of credit to the film for - is editing this movie. The editing in Cloud Atlas is absolutely masterful - possibly the best I've ever seen. It makes Speed Racer look like their high school project. 10/10 Editing.
Good movie, enjoyed it a lot.
It's clocked in at 2 hours and 45 minutes, and not one bit of that left me bored or tired. I don't know which story I liked better.
The prosthetic work in this movie must have put plenty of make-up artists to work, it was mostly impressive. I say mostly because the Sonmi story had some questionable make-up work, with regards to making the non-Asian actors look sort of Asian. I'm assuming, based on Keith David being there in the first place, that they're not necessarily Asian. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
The soundtrack is great. I need it in my veins.
It's clocked in at 2 hours and 45 minutes, and not one bit of that left me bored or tired. I don't know which story I liked better.
The prosthetic work in this movie must have put plenty of make-up artists to work, it was mostly impressive. I say mostly because the Sonmi story had some questionable make-up work, with regards to making the non-Asian actors look sort of Asian. I'm assuming, based on Keith David being there in the first place, that they're not necessarily Asian. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
The soundtrack is great. I need it in my veins.
Bummer. Because where you saw frivolity, I saw tremendous range and nuance. Instead of beating the same horse, they chose to cover a very broad range of the human experience.
Anyone looking for a singular narrative is going to be disappointed, but this film overcame the cheapness of most composite works.
When you zoom out, the film really is an epic assembly of an imagined religion with its seeds planted in industrial (as opposed to prehistoric) times. And like our current crop of religions, a bunch of detours and oddities show up along the waybut they generally support the theme.
Well this was just goddamned amazing i really cant believe it. Its one of the most ambitious clusters of fucks ever made. The only real negative i have against the movie was the way its edited and told makes it seem like a big interconnected mystery and so i was distracted trying to solve it all, when really only the thinnest of connections exists. It will probably be more enjoyable on a 2nd viewing knowing that going into it. Also, the bad makeup on some characters i almost think was intentional so people kept the character archetypes consistent through each story.
Really though this movie had so many chances to fail and it kinda doesnt. I mean the acting was fantastic, the story was always interesting, funny moments were funny and sad moments were sad. Visual effects were phenomenal and story concepts werent half-baked. Definitely gonna be a classic in some circles.
Really though this movie had so many chances to fail and it kinda doesnt. I mean the acting was fantastic, the story was always interesting, funny moments were funny and sad moments were sad. Visual effects were phenomenal and story concepts werent half-baked. Definitely gonna be a classic in some circles.
The social commentary in this movie was fucking incredible. Absolutely loved it (for more than just that too).
People of all races, genders, and ages were playing other people of all races, genders, and ages. It's one thing that is so crazy with Hollywood today is how whitewashed it is. It was amazing to see a Korean woman play a white freckly woman, a black man portrayed with asian features, women play men (and vice versa), and white men play asian men all in the same film.
People of all races, genders, and ages were playing other people of all races, genders, and ages. It's one thing that is so crazy with Hollywood today is how whitewashed it is. It was amazing to see a Korean woman play a white freckly woman, a black man portrayed with asian features, women play men (and vice versa), and white men play asian men all in the same film.
Yes, it was indeed a Wachowski movie. And i noticed this too, lot of subtle thing done to portray different things culturally most people wont put into words.
This too. In general, one of the most thought-provoking movies I've seen in the last few years. Was a very chatty car ride home with Mrs. Juice
The nuclear power plant story is meant to be a horribly dull cliche. The trick of the book is how it switches between many different storytelling forms and techniques. This of course does not translate at all to the movie. I think it would have been interesting if they had tried to give each story its own different cinematic style, but overall the movie's look and direction seems very consistent. Perhaps it would have been too jarring to have wildly different styles intercut like that though.
Cloud Atlas Author talks about the various storytelling modes:
Each of the six sections has a model. My character Ewing was (pretty obviously) Melville, but with shorter sentences. Frobisher is Christopher Isherwood, especially in Lions and Shadows. Luisa Rey is any generic airport thriller. Cavendish is Cavendish -- he has a short part in the "London" section of my first novel, Ghostwritten. The interview format for "Sonmi" I borrowed from gossip magazines in which a rather gushing hack interviews some celeb bigwig. Zachary owes (of course) a big debt to Riddley Walker, a novel by Russell Hoban, though some reviewers point to "Mad Max 3."
Cloud Atlas Author talks about the various storytelling modes:
Each of the six sections has a model. My character Ewing was (pretty obviously) Melville, but with shorter sentences. Frobisher is Christopher Isherwood, especially in Lions and Shadows. Luisa Rey is any generic airport thriller. Cavendish is Cavendish -- he has a short part in the "London" section of my first novel, Ghostwritten. The interview format for "Sonmi" I borrowed from gossip magazines in which a rather gushing hack interviews some celeb bigwig. Zachary owes (of course) a big debt to Riddley Walker, a novel by Russell Hoban, though some reviewers point to "Mad Max 3."
Its also amazing that the Wachowski's couldnt get enough of Agent Smith that they decided to have Hugo replay that character in like 8 different films and characters at once. Its literally the same damn character, its amazing. They have gone meta over 9000.
I think each story was meant to convey characters going against the norm and changing things for the better. It was a minute act of courage that has ripple effects across history. Thats why the composed music piece gets scattered accross many of the stories, how that act influenced the future. It really is an obvious point to make but obviously not so obvious when the same mistakes are made. Hugo's character was Agent Smith, the guy who keeps society in check and makes sure everything is normal, no matter how fucked up that is. Thats why they keep repeating the line "Natural order of things". All the main characters fuck that and change the world.
All the makeup and prosthetics were incredibly distracting. Hugo Weaving doing his best Mrs. Belvedere impression was an absolute low point in the film. I don't really think they're trying to make any kind of statement by having a man play a woman or having a white guy play an Asian guy. They just came up with this weird gimmick and committed themselves fully to it.
I thought the point of using the same actors over and over is we're supposed to get the idea that after one character dies (s)he is reincarnated but with the same body. Therefore you can track that character's arc of development over generations. But apparently that's not the idea at all. Tom Hanks' 1973 character is not the reincarnation of Tom Hanks' 1936 character.
Aside from the one character that has a comet birthmark, you cannot track the trajectory of any character. Which I think is going to be rather confusing to audiences......especially when they had Weaving play roughly the same villain in every story.
I thought the point of using the same actors over and over is we're supposed to get the idea that after one character dies (s)he is reincarnated but with the same body. Therefore you can track that character's arc of development over generations. But apparently that's not the idea at all. Tom Hanks' 1973 character is not the reincarnation of Tom Hanks' 1936 character.
Aside from the one character that has a comet birthmark, you cannot track the trajectory of any character. Which I think is going to be rather confusing to audiences......especially when they had Weaving play roughly the same villain in every story.
Oh I don't think they were necessarily trying to make a statement by doing that either. The fact that they did though was social commentary in itself. It really shows something about what we're used to seeing because we're surprised at what we saw here.
At the same time I don't think it was a gimmick either. Neo Seoul wasn't supposed to be any kind of commentary (about races portraying other races at least), but rather it was just that by that point in the future the races had all kind of melded into these forms we wouldn't recognize today.
I think all u really gotta do for an answer is look at one of the filmmakers here.
What does it matter who they are though? I know she's transgender but that doesn't make the commentary and more or less relevant than otherwise.
I just thought the film was great because there were really no boundaries as far as the actors/actresses went. Everyone did everything and as far as I have seen that's never been done before, let alone in a big budget film by very well known directors.
This is definitely a movie that takes some time to digest. I immediately knew I liked it, but I have to kinda sit and think about it to understand all I took in. While I don't think any one story is particularly great, all put together makes the movie something special and unique I think.
Very clever this movie was, and as a whole I think I really like it. It's just a hard sell for some people I think. It's not the kind of movie you wanna watch to have a good time, but if you want to be entertained by great cinema, this is a movie worth watching. For people who watch movies beyond the fluff and garbage that gets put out by Hollywood so often, this was truly refreshing. I knew I would like this movie. The Wachowskis really are great film makers.
The connections throughout the story are not all obvious from the get go I think, I started to realize more connections as I talked about it. Some of them are more obvious then others. The repeating themes of love and compassion, or oppressive parts of society.
There was one connection I just realized, and I felt like it should have been more obvious to me, and I feel stupid for not noticing it sooner. Many of the actors playing different roles, most of them had consistent types of characters. Tom Hanks was one actor who played a pretty wide variety though. He was the slimy greedy doctor, then he was the greedy manager...in his earlier lives, he was a bit of a dirtbag. Even in the 1970s, he was working for the wrong side by being an employee of the nuclear power plant. I started to realize though, Halle Berry's character was the thing that changes him in the different lives. Even when he was the asshole writer who throws the guy off a roof, there was a spot when you see him notice Halle Berry again, and he becomes soft for just a moment. In the post-fall time, he was a coward, but when he meets her again, he gets courage and becomes a better man. There's even a line at the end of the movie where he says something like she's the best thing to happen to him.
There was one connection I just realized, and I felt like it should have been more obvious to me, and I feel stupid for not noticing it sooner. Many of the actors playing different roles, most of them had consistent types of characters. Tom Hanks was one actor who played a pretty wide variety though. He was the slimy greedy doctor, then he was the greedy manager...in his earlier lives, he was a bit of a dirtbag. Even in the 1970s, he was working for the wrong side by being an employee of the nuclear power plant. I started to realize though, Halle Berry's character was the thing that changes him in the different lives. Even when he was the asshole writer who throws the guy off a roof, there was a spot when you see him notice Halle Berry again, and he becomes soft for just a moment. In the post-fall time, he was a coward, but when he meets her again, he gets courage and becomes a better man. There's even a line at the end of the movie where he says something like she's the best thing to happen to him.
Very clever this movie was, and as a whole I think I really like it. It's just a hard sell for some people I think. It's not the kind of movie you wanna watch to have a good time, but if you want to be entertained by great cinema, this is a movie worth watching. For people who watch movies beyond the fluff and garbage that gets put out by Hollywood so often, this was truly refreshing. I knew I would like this movie. The Wachowskis really are great film makers.
I was agreeing mostly, in fact i think i responded to you already, i was simply posting the image in response to the idea that the Wachowski's were unaware of what they were doing when having everyone play everyone. Their own lives directly contradict that idea.
Not sure if I should link or put image tags since it was a promo image, but just to play it safe: This was Halle Berry. Holy shit. It looked incredibly ridiculous, but I was trying to guess who it was until they showed which actor was which during the end credits.
Oh my bad. Yeah I definitely don't think they were unaware and I didn't mean to make it seem that way, but at the same time I don't think it was necessarily them trying to make a distinct statement. I think it's more like them wanting to put themselves into their work and trying to subtlely change the way people see things.
Double post whoops
It says forbidden but are you talking about the super old asian man? If so I had the same reaction, my jaw completely dropped and I started laughing out of disbelief. Same when they showed some of the other actors in more minor roles in other timelines.
Wait I think I found a pic. IIRC, the person on the right is Halle Berry.
Deputy Dangle
Member
The end credits showed it was Halle Berry. It really threw me for a loop. I could tell it was one of the main characters, but I couldn't pinpoint who until they showed who it was.
I'm not sure they know what they're doing. Having the actors recur suggests that their souls stay persistently in the same body, but at the same time the comet birthmark suggests that no, actually a soul swaps bodies over many reincarnations. And then you have actors who always play the same sort of character (Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant) again suggesting that a soul stays in the same body. But that's at least partially contradicted by actors that play wildly different characters (Hanks, Berry).
Some people in this thread have come away thinking that it was a film about Hanks' development over several lifetimes. Whereas I came away thinking it was about the comet-marked soul's development over several lifetimes.
As for whether there's some kind of social or societal message to be gotten out of the race bending and gender bending, I don't know. If there is, nobody seems able to really vocalize it as of yet.
I kind of like that about the movie; that it wasn't a clear image. For example I didn't think the comet birthmark was anything really that concrete like a specific soul going through different bodies or etc. I just thought the comet kind of symbolized how they were all kind of connected in some small way even though they don't know it.
I actually dont think there is really a literal connection between the ages when it comes to things like reincarnation. If anything, all it really does is try and drive the point that everything is connected. I don't think the movie was trying to endorse that characters lived multiple lives. That comet mark is really the only thing that would suggest otherwise, but i think its just symbolic.
The way Rufus Sixsmith notices the birthmark on Luisa Ray and immediately hits it off with her seems to imply that she's a direct reincarnation of his former boyfriend. I think the thing that will frustrate viewers is that it's not really possible to track where the souls go from story-to-story.....unless you buy into the possibility that "same actor = same soul" method of interpretation.
The movie constantly mentions reincarnation though. I don't think that's meant as a red herring or anything.
The generic summary text that is provided for the movie (on websites like RT, IMDB, Apple Trailers, etc) reads, "one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero". Which you could read as either Tom Hanks' development, or the development of the comet-marked soul. Either way it seems we are supposed to be able to track the trajectory of at least one person's soul over the course of many generations.
lazybones18
Banned
That caught me by surprise as well, along with
Donna playing the Spanish chick in the 1970s timeline and Hugh Grant playing the bad guy in the Big Isle (although once I saw the face I could tell)
It was fun trying to find out who played who in each timeline and being blown away by the reveals in the end credits
demosthenes
Member
Just got back. Overall, loved it.
edit: I thought I followed all the actors/actresses really well, definitely missed some in the end credits.
edit: I thought I followed all the actors/actresses really well, definitely missed some in the end credits.
GhostWriter24
Member
I have a bad feeling this is going to bomb. Hard.
Even with all the A-list talent I don't think people have any idea of what to expect, and that's the biggest issue.
Even with all the A-list talent I don't think people have any idea of what to expect, and that's the biggest issue.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
I think it's pretty obvious it's going to bomb. Unfortunate.
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