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CLOUD ATLAS |OT| (dir. Wachowskis, Tykwer) Death. Life. Birth.

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Not feeling the complaints about the makeup - in most of the cases it was a method of connecting characters rather than effectively masking an actor as another race or gender, it wasn't a gimmick or anything to me. A suspension of disbelief is helpful to accept that one - I had no interest in being fooled or impressed by making a white person look Korean or vice versa and thought it worked fine.

Loved the film, gonna see it again and read the book now.
 

Meier

Member
So I have a question about the Robert Frobisher story

Why does he try to hit on the old man? Why did he think he could kiss him?

I think it was because
he felt a strong connection to him due to way they unconsciously knew the same melody. It wasn't really in line with how he is presented in the book, but it didn't surprise me within the context of the movie since his relationship with Jocasta received less focus in the film.

Not feeling the complaints about the makeup - in most of the cases it was a method of connecting characters rather than effectively masking an actor as another race or gender, it wasn't a gimmick or anything to me. A suspension of disbelief is helpful to accept that one - I had no interest in being fooled or impressed by making a white person look Korean or vice versa and thought it worked fine.

Loved the film, gonna see it again and read the book now.

I haven't read the whole thread, but I can't really see why anyone would complain about the make-up. They did an amazing job.. there were honestly at least a few characters that I didn't recognize at all (Halle Berry as the "Mexican" guard was shocking)
 
I thought the make-up worked well for the most part too. There were times when it was obvious who someone was and times when it wasn't. But the point was to convey that it was the same person throughout the different eras and to that effect it worked fine. I don't think it was there intention to try to completely mask the actors, as it would have overridden the theme of the story. Aside from an occasional odd make-up job though, I felt it worked well.
 

Wiggum2007

Junior Member
(Halle Berry as the "Mexican" guard was shocking)

Remind me again which character this was? I don't recall.

I thought the make-up worked well for the most part too. There were times when it was obvious who someone was and times when it wasn't. But the point was to convey that it was the same person throughout the different eras and to that effect it worked fine. I don't think it was there intention to try to completely mask the actors, as it would have overridden the theme of the story. Aside from an occasional odd make-up job though, I felt it worked well.

I thought the most awkward was
the Korean actress as Ewing's wife and not really being able to hide her accent
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Remind me again which character this was? I don't recall.



I thought the most awkward was
the Korean actress as Ewing's wife and not really being able to hide her accent

From what I understand from when the directors visited,
she spoke absolutely no English at the start of production. She came a long way, considering.
 
Tilda definitely is an example of how I felt. Yes, it was obvious that it was a Korean actress portraying a white person. However in the context of the film that is inconsequential. You know that she is supposed to be portraying a white person, and that's good enough for me. Think of it like a play than a traditional film and it works just fine.

Maybe I'm defending something that would come off as a bad makeup job in another film, but this isn't any other film. If you're looking for accuracy and believability then yeah, some of the makeup jobs were pretty rough...but I think they obviously would have gone with much more CGI work on the faces if they were going for accuracy.

And damn, yeah. That's crazy about the language barrier.
 

Meier

Member
Remind me again which character this was? I don't recall.

The one that the hitman called a "wetback" during the Luisa & Sixsmith/70s-era storyline. Halle Berry was two characters at once during the few scenes they shared apparently.

I thought the most awkward was
the Korean actress as Ewing's wife and not really being able to hide her accent

Yep, that was definitely the least believable of transformations.
 

Wiggum2007

Junior Member
From what I understand from when the directors visited,
she spoke absolutely no English at the start of production. She came a long way, considering.

That is pretty impressive. I think she was a perfect fit as Sonmi. Nice nude scenes too.

The one that the hitman called a "wetback" during the Luisa & Sixsmith/70s-era storyline. Halle Berry was two characters at once during the few scenes they shared apparently.

Wha?? I'm positive that was Doona Bae, the Korean actress.
 

Croc

Banned
That's kinda my point, though. Yes, it was obvious that it was a Korean actress portraying a white person. However in the context of the film that is inconsequential. You know that she is supposed to be portraying a white person, and that's good enough. Think of it more like a play than a traditional film and it works just fine.

Maybe I'm defending something that would come off as a bad makeup job in another film, but this isn't any other film. If you're looking for accuracy and believability then yeah, some of the makeup jobs were pretty rough...but I think they obviously would have gone with much more CGI work on the faces if they were going for accuracy.

That's how I see it as well. I'm sure to a Korean person, seeing white men play Korean men probably seems the same way seeing Doona play a white woman does to us. There's probably subtle things that someone native to that culture would notice that a foreigner would not.
 

Meier

Member
Wha?? I'm positive that was Doona Bae, the Korean actress.

Ooh, I think you're right. I remember being very surprised either way. Halle as the doctor was a shocker to me as well -- I must have just added another character to the surprising list. :)
 

Wiggum2007

Junior Member
That's how I see it as well. I'm sure to a Korean person, seeing white men play Korean men probably seems the same way seeing Doona play a white woman does to us. There's probably subtle things that someone native to that culture would notice that a foreigner would not.

Yeah the white actors as Koreans was awkward as hell too. But you learned to roll with it.

I really enjoyed the parts where they were obviously having fun with it, notably Tom Hanks and Hugo Weaving in the Cavendish story.
 
That's how I see it as well. I'm sure to a Korean person, seeing white men play Korean men probably seems the same way seeing Doona play a white woman does to us. There's probably subtle things that someone native to that culture would notice that a foreigner would not.

Exactly.

Also I think the multiple roles were meant to abstractly underscore the "atlas of souls" theme, but not directly imply they were all the same "person" per actor. Pretty sure there would be some overlap between the '35/'73 or '73/2012 lives for some of the characters played by the same actor. (Lloyd Hooks and Denholm Cavendish would have been alive at the same time, as one example.)

I took the comet birthmark in the book as a throughline for one "soul" though. The intention may be the same in the film.
 

x-Lundz-x

Member
Considering this was major Bomba is it now finally time for the Wachowskis to finally go back to what they do best; making Matrix films?
 

Jimothy

Member
Considering this was major Bomba is it now finally time for the Wachowskis to finally go back to what they do best; making Matrix films?

I don't think anyone expected this do to amazingly well at the box office. The way it was funded made it so the loss was spread out among many investors. The Wachowskis still have a ton of pull left over from The Matrix. They can continue doing whatever kind of movies they want.
 

bengraven

Member
Every time I see someone cheering this failure, I think "and now we're going to get three more Battleship movies because of this".

New films failing are a tragedy, not a comedy.
 

Meier

Member
The Wachowskis next film (Jupiter Ascending) is in pre-production. It is supposed to start filming in February. Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis are on board thus far and it's set to film in Chicago at least initially.
 

FoneBone

Member
Man, I can definitely get people not caring for this, but I'd say it's a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts if ever there was one...
 
Saw this over the weekend and loved it! I was surprised by the way they translated the stories to the screen, I think the simultaneous approach was the right way. As for the makeup, I appreciated the fact that you could tell it was makeup most of the time. They could have easily went all out CG and really make the actors unrecognizable, but that would get away from one of the main mechanisms in the book :
the characters are reading/watching stories/tales from other times.
It totally works that it would be seen as actors in makeup as opposed to having different actors or totally unrecognizable actors. A gutsy choice and one that I really liked.

At first I was shocked that revelations late in the book were being shown at the beginning of the film (
Frobisher's suicide, the doctor poisoning Ewing
), but it totally worked as it pulled you into the character's lives.

I'm glad I saw it in a theater and I am already looking forward to the blu-ray to really analyze this film.
 

Evlar

Banned
Exactly.

Also I think the multiple roles were meant to abstractly underscore the "atlas of souls" theme, but not directly imply they were all the same "person" per actor. Pretty sure there would be some overlap between the '35/'73 or '73/2012 lives for some of the characters played by the same actor. (Lloyd Hooks and Denholm Cavendish would have been alive at the same time, as one example.)

I took the comet birthmark in the book as a throughline for one "soul" though. The intention may be the same in the film.
Hugh Grant, in particular, would have had to be alive at the same time as both the plant manager from 1973 and Timothy's brother from 2012.

Not to mention Halle Barry playing two characters in the same scene.
 

R-User!

Member
Because of how low the actual gross is.

And because it's in third place and couldn't unseat Argo from its prior week top spot.

In the masses eyes that unfortunately (for the filmmakers) equates to a bomba. Which causes a trickle-down effect for new viewers in the coming weeks because they think "*Bad reviews. No one's really seeing this. I won't look stupid at the office having not seen this... I'll pass.*"
Two tickets to Argo please!
 

Raguel

Member
Saw this last night. Was an ambitious film that was beautifully flawed and deliberately paced. The fractured narrative reminds me of The Fountain. I enjoy this audacious film immensely, even with its suspect make up and sometimes spotty narrative. I want to watch it with subtitles though bc i couldn't understand half of what was said. Was quite annoying.
 

RDreamer

Member
Saw it last night with the wife, and I thought it was absolutely brilliant. Loved the film. Anything that makes me think for days afterwards is definitely worth my money, and I know I'll be doing it with this.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
So a question about one of the final scenes:

Why was Meronym using the device to send a signal? Who was it to?
 

cametall

Member
Wait wait wait ... the white actors were supposed to be Korean? I thought they were surgically enhanced freaks who tried to look Korean.

I recall all the white-Koreans having scars going from their bottom lip to their chin, made me think they weren't supposed to be Korean but were trying to look Korean because maybe they felt imperfect - hell I dunno.

The Keanue Reeves/Neo wannabe bothered me though, he was too Neo-ish.
 

ckohler

Member
So a question about one of the final scenes:

Why was Meronym using the device to send a signal? Who was it to?

Trying to contact an off Earth colony, presumably Mars. Eventually, they arrive in a spaceship and rescue what's left of civilized humanity on Earth, relocating them to what appears to be a terraformed Mars. What's left of the Valleysmen goes with them. This part of the story was not in the novel.
 

PolishQ

Member
So a question about one of the final scenes:

Why was Meronym using the device to send a signal? Who was it to?

Before The Fall, humans had established off-world colonies. After The Fall, it's not clear if any of these off-world colonies still exist, so she is sending a signal out in the hopes that an off-world colony can send rescue ships to Earth (which is becoming uninhabitable). As we see at the end of the film, she was successful and they have reached a different planet.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
Trying to contact an off Earth colony, presumably Mars. Eventually, they arrive in a spaceship and rescue what's left of civilized humanity on Earth, relocating them to what appears to be a terraformed Mars. What's left of the Valleysmen goes with them. This part of the story was not in the novel.

OOOOHHHHhh... I thought she was from a different planet. Ok that makes much more sense than what I my ridiculous train of thought
 

ckohler

Member
OOOOHHHHhh... I thought she was from a different planet. Ok that makes much more sense than what I my ridiculous train of thought

Yeah, this is probably my biggest beef with the movie. The After the Fall story really requires a lot more setup and exposition to really understand. On one hand, I commend the filmmakers for putting the burdon on the audience to just "figure it out" however they needed to better explain who the Precients and Old Georgie are. There was barely enough in the movie judging by comments like yours.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
Yeah, this is probably my biggest beef with the movie. The After the Fall story really requires a lot more setup and exposition to really understand. On one hand, I commend the filmmakers for putting the burdon on the audience to just "figure it out" however they needed to better explain who the Precients and Old Georgie are. There was barely enough in the movie judging by comments like yours.

Yeah but this does make me want to read to the book since even 3 hours felt like it was a rushed plot.
 

CrisKre

Member
It doesn't work well because nobody else in the film personifies their thoughts and that's not the way humans think irl. It made the character came across as schizophrenic.

I disagree. The way I saw it is that Tom Hank's "soul", up until that point was "bad" (except for when he gave the nuclear reactor's papers to Haley Berry and the got blown up in the plane, at which point it was to late to fulfill his change since he had been helping with the genocide). If you observe, the souls remained "good" or "bad" throughout the story. Tom Hank's character shows that there is an evolution from bad to good to be gone through, and its related to love. The demon he was fighting signified that change.

Thats the was I saw it.
 

ronito

Member
100+ million dollars to make, less than 10 million opening weekend.

BOMBA

whoa, seriously?

That's pretty terrible.
But still they stand to break even if they can have a big non-US following and DVD sales.
Of course if it doesn't break $5 million this week they're probably in huge trouble.
 

t-ramp

Member
whoa, seriously?

That's pretty terrible.
But still they stand to break even if they can have a big non-US following and DVD sales.
Of course if it doesn't break $5 million this week they're probably in huge trouble.
Apparently the theory is that since this is an independent movie the loss isn't so bad since it's spread out. I'm curious to see how it fares in the next couple weeks, though, since I don't doubt quite a few people will want to see it again and maybe bring friends. Who knows, though, I don't know how these things work.
 

xbhaskarx

Member
I watched it on IMAX over the weekend, although it has its flaws I thought it was one of the better movies I have seen this year and I will be recommending it to others.
 
As far as the movie being a bomba remember its near 3 hours. So theaters are limited in how many showings they can play in day. So it should be fine in the long run.

and I loved the movie.
 

Ashhong

Member
I disagree. The way I saw it is that Tom Hank's "soul", up until that point was "bad" (except for when he gave the nuclear reactor's papers to Haley Berry and the got blown up in the plane, at which point it was to late to fulfill his change since he had been helping with the genocide). If you observe, the souls remained "good" or "bad" throughout the story. Tom Hank's character shows that there is an evolution from good to bad to be gone through, and its related to love. The demon he was fighting signified that change.

Thats the was I saw it.

This is interesting, I didn't even realize this. What were his characters again? He was the poison doctor, hotel manager, scientist, book writer, etc. Fits your theory
 

CrisKre

Member
This is interesting, I didn't even realize this. What were his characters again? He was the poison doctor, hotel manager, scientist, book writer, etc. Fits your theory
that is the main narrative imo. The asian girl hints to this by saying every kindness, every bad deed, every decision determines your future.
 

Stet

Banned
My mom and my sister loved the book and hated the film. Didn't really make me want to see it much, and even said it made them embarrassed to say it was one of their favourite books of the year because everyone would associate it with the movie and think they're idiots.
 

Korey

Member
Ni8bx.png



No spoilers in this review.

Just go see it.

You won't regret it.

Pay attention during the credits.


Yes, like any other movie, this one has its flaws. But to spend any time discussing them is missing the point. The movie is so fucking GRAND that it completely overshadows any of its flaws.

This movie requires some "sinking in." When you leave the theater, you'll think the movie's a 7 or 8. You'll feel overwhelmed or confused. You'll have missed a bunch of things. It's ok. Let it sink in. By the end of the night you'll be dying to see the movie again. This exact phenomenon happened to more than one person I know.

You're going to regret not seeing this movie in theaters if you don't. For the love of god, go see it.



Previous reviews:

Looper (7/10)
The Dark Knight Rises (7/10)
The Amazing Spider-Man (7/10)
The Avengers (9/10)
 
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