Review - Cloud Atlas (2013)

The visually stunning Cloud Atlas was released in the UK in February 2013. It was directed by the Wachowski siblings, Andy and Lana, who wrote and directed the Matrix trilogy, and German director Tom Tykwer. The film is an adaptation of the 2004 novel by British author David Mitchell.

Cloud Atlas was considered a massive flop in the US, as it only managed to gross $27 million, taking into consideration that it cost $100 million to make, although it has been a lot more successful in countries such as China.

Both the book and the film tell six different, interwoven narratives which all take place in six different periods of time starting in 1850 and ending almost 500 years later in a post-apocalyptic future. The first half of the film begins by telling the stories in chronological order, followed by a random assortment of each time period, and then it ends with each story going backwards in time. The film follows how the actions of others can impact the lives of others far into the future.

The earliest segment of the overall story is set in the South Pacific Ocean in 1850 and features an American lawyer travelling home from the Pacific Islands with an escaped slave; next the film visits 1930s Britain, where a bi-sexual English musician travels to Edinburgh to become an amanuensis to an old famous composer; then in San Francisco, 1973, a female journalist uncovers a conspiracy regarding the safety of a new nuclear reactor; moving to present day a 65-year-old publisher is tricked by his brother into hiding out at a nursery home against his will; a genetically-engineered "fabricant" (clone) is saved from her servitude at a fast-food restaurant in "Neo Seoul" - a futuristic version of Seoul after it has been submerged by water in 2144; "106 winters after the Fall" is set in post-apocalyptic Hawaii after the majority of humanity have died in the "the Fall", this is the most futuristic time frame and portrays a man and his community living in fear of the savage Koba tribe.

Cloud Atlas features an extensive number of Hollywood A-listers such as Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent and Susan Sarandon but, unlike the majority of Hollywood blockbusters, Cloud Atlas isn't just a cliché about an action hero who always gets the girl, it is a film full of meanings about how past and present decisions affect the future of mankind. The Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer cast the main actors in multiple roles across a 500-year time period, suggesting the possibility of reincarnation and evolution of the soul. Many of the actors play characters of different race and gender as they are heavily disguised by, almost fake looking, make-up and prosthetics. This decision could be to highlight how all human beings are the same regardless of background and social status, but it seems to have backfired. White, male actors were fitted with putty-looking prosthetic eyes to portray Korean men which led to the "yellowface" controversy; the film received a vast amount of criticism from the Media Action Network for Asian Americans and much of the media.

The film deals with themes such as the interconnectedness of all human life, prejudice and oppression and, finally, revolution and change. Various characters in the film have a comet-shaped birthmark, perhaps suggesting that these characters are all incarnations of the same soul or that they are all connected in some way or another.

Each story contains some form of oppression or imprisonment in regards to race, gender or sexuality. For example in the Neo Seoul storyline it is the oppression of the fabricants who are manufactured for low-status jobs in society. Each narrative also involves a character who helps to overcome prejudice and/or restrictions either towards them or another part of society.

Intertextuality is recurrent throughout the film as characters in most time periods are either reading or watching something created in the previous story, through the use of journals, novels and film. These stories from the past inspire the characters to fight for freedom and the oppressive social regime they face, resulting in a revolution and, eventually, changing the lives of others in the future.

Cloud Atlas is certainly not perfect, there are quite a few moments throughout the film which can be described as cringe-worthy and don't fit in with the rest of its charming nature, but, despite that, I have never seen a film like it before and it is one of the very few films which has left me feeling a sense of satisfaction after watching it. If you are looking for a film which will make you cry, laugh, angry and, most of all, make you think about the issues caused and overcome by the human race then this is the perfect film for you. Beautiful, flawed and unforgettable; Cloud Atlas is certainly the most ambitious film of the year.

References

ANDERS, C.J., 2012. [online] New York, NY.: Gawker Media. Available from: http://io9.com/5955079/is-cloud-atlas-an-unholy-mess-or-a-brilliant-masterpiece-yes [Accessed 04/09 2013]

BROOKS, X., 2013. Cloud atlas - review. [online] London, UK.: Guardian News and Media Limited. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/feb/21/cloud-atlas-review [Accessed 04/08 2013]

MITCHELL, D., 2012. Translating 'cloud atlas' into the language of film. [online] New York, NY.: Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Available from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443675404578060870111158076.html [Accessed 04/08 2013]

ROSEN, C., 2012. 'Cloud atlas & yellowface: Wachowskis' film slammed by group for lack of asian actors. [online] New York, NY.: TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. Available from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/cloud-atlas-yellowface-wachowski_n_2017624.html [Accessed 04/10 2013]