Directed by: Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, James D'Arcy, Doona Bae
One of the greatest pitfalls of film criticism is the tendency for critics to approach movies from the standpoint that we are smarter than what we are watching. Nowhere does this seem more evident than with Cloud Atlas — the mammoth collaborative effort of Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer. Frankly, I don’t know when I’ve seen so many superior-toned reviews that read like pronouncements from on high that ought perhaps be followed by, “Zardoz has spoken.” And, in all honesty, I think the negativity is largely knee-jerk tut-tutting over the filmmakers daring to make something strikingly different that is too accessible and insufficiently grim. Cloud Atlas’ great sin may just be that it’s too entertaining for its own good — too concerned with being a movie rather than a film, with all the weightiness (real or imagined) that the latter implies. The fact is that Cloud Atlas really is a movie — and one of the most remarkable and exciting ones I’ve seen in some considerable time. If this is moviemaking and not filmmaking, I say let’s have more movies and less films.
The idea of a movie with six intercut stories sounds more daunting and more revolutionary than it is. A fellow by the name of D.W. Griffith tried something like it with four intercut stories in a movie called Intolerance way back in 1916. In theory, this isn’t all that different — nor are its aims of conveying a fairly simple message through the ages. But Cloud Atlas is a different proposition in part just because there’s been nearly a hundred years of movies between the two. The thing is that Cloud Atlas is as much about movies — about what movies have been, are and will continue to be — as it is about its stories, which themselves riff on what we expect from each genre employed. It’s essentially six movies on one theme — love and transcendence — that attain an unusual power, less because of what they contain and more because of how they’re presented. As the ebb and flow becomes (generally) more rapid, the effect is perhaps more akin to a symphony than a movie. Complaints that without this structure the individual stories wouldn’t amount to much completely miss the point. The structure is the movie. The very ambition of the undertaking is amazing. That it works is close to a miracle, but if you look at how the film interconnects, it’s a miracle made from a lot of hard work.
I suspect I’m making this sound a lot harder to get into and follow than it is. Overall, Cloud Atlas is easy to follow and easy to get sucked into. Just go with it. Don’t — at least on a single viewing — overthink it. As a story — or series of stories — it’s fairly transparent. At bottom, you have six stories. One is about a lawyer (Jim Sturgess) on a business trip in 1850 who becomes involved with a “self-freed” slave (David Gyasi) and a venal, murderous doctor (Tom Hanks). The next (which owes a lot to Ken Russell’s 1968 TV film about composer Frederick Delius and Eric Fenby) is about a young homosexual composer (Ben Whishaw) in 1930s England, who offers his services as amanuensis to an aging composer (Jim Broadbent). The next — set in 1973 America — involves a crusading reporter (Halle Berry) uncovering the truth about a dangerous nuclear power plant. Then there’s a modern day tale about a publisher (Jim Broadbent) being committed to an abusive retirement home. This dovetails into a futuristic story about an artificially created woman (Doona Bae) in a futuristic setting of the dystopian variety, and this leads into a story set in a much distant post-apocalyptic future.
That description of the very bare bones of the overall movie might be a useful guide, but it conveys nothing of the beauty, power or creativity of the movie. The touches that connect the stories are often sublime, as are many of the transitions between stories. That so many of the roles are played by the same actors as different characters is more than just fun (though it is fun). After all, aren’t the movies themselves the story of seeing the same actors in different roles over the years? (There’s even a terrific bit in which one of the stories is itself made into a film with a different actor playing the role.) Go see Cloud Atlas and see for yourself. You will not see anything like it this year — nothing so grand and ambitious — and you may never see anything like it again. Rated R for violence, language, sexuality/nudity and some drug use.
Playing at Carolina Asheville Cinema 14
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How does Hugh Grant fare? |
 Oct 30, 2012 at 3:20 PM |
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He’s fine, but it’s not really his movie. |
Oct 30, 2012 |
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I saw it Saturday and loved it enough to take some friends to see it on Sunday. |
bengi Oct 30, 2012 |
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And did they show it the proper love? |
Oct 31, 2012 |
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Wow. A movie getting 5 stars from Ken with Tom Hanks in it says something. And, in all honesty, I think the negativity is largely knee-jerk tut-tutting over the filmmakers daring to make something strikingly different that is too accessible and insufficiently grim. Right on. Sadly the white wine crowd has determined that a movie has to be depressing and hard to understand in order to have value. |
 Oct 31, 2012 at 6:38 PM |
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Sadly the white wine crowd has determined that a movie has to be depressing and hard to understand in order to have value. Alas, the first part of that statement has been more true than not for a very long time. |
Oct 31, 2012 |
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Wow. This ranks pretty high up there in terms of the most surprise (though based on little more than gut-feeling) I’ve ever felt after reading one of your reviews. Guess I better give this thing a look. |
 Nov 01, 2012 at 12:11 AM |
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Yes, you should. |
Nov 01, 2012 |
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Oh, right- I saw this a couple weeks ago and enjoyed it. The post-apocalyptic scenes didn’t garner as much excitement from me as everything else, possibly in part because I kept seeing Cast Away Tom Hanks in that character. I’m not certain I’d watch it all again any time soon, but I’d pay to see The Ghastly Ordeals of Timothy Cavendish. |
Nov 26, 2012 at 12:03 AM |
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I kept seeing Cast Away Tom Hanks in that character. I have largely managed to drive that from my mind, though I grant you it woulda been a lot better with Hugo Weaving as an evil spirit urging him to poke a hole in that damned volley ball. I’m not certain I’d watch it all again any time soon, Actually, I did watch it again on the awards screener they sent and found that it holds up nicely and reveals nuances likely unseen on a solo viewing. |
Nov 26, 2012 |
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This leaves our realm on Xmas Day. |
Dec 19, 2012 |
