Cloud Atlas was one of the most highly anticipated films of 2012. It didn't première in the UK until February 2013, but regrettably I never went to see it when it was being shown in cinemas. However, a year on from its world première at Toronto Film Festival, I finally sat down to watch the film I'd been looking forward to for so long... Having read the book a while ago, I was immensely looking forward to seeing how they'd taken on the incredibly challenging task of adapting it for film; it'd be no mean feat, but if anyone could do Cloud Atlas justice, it would be the Wachowskis!
Created by Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, and Andy Wachowski, Cloud Atlas is the cinematic adaptation of David Mitchell's award-winning book. Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Doona Bae, James D'Arcy, Hugh Grant and Hugo Weaving as a multitude of characters over six separate – but connected – narratives, the story takes place across different time periods over the course of 500 years, from the Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing in 1849 to 'Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After' in 2321.
Unlike the book, which tells each story in a 'nesting doll' style (each story finishes halfway through and moves on to the next, and then the final half of each story is told in reverse order), the film is structured in a pointillist mosaic style, telling fragments of each story, often mirroring or juxtaposed with segments which are connected in the other time period. Although this initially feels very fragmented, as it doesn't seem to follow a linear structure, it becomes clearer as the film progresses and makes the over-arching narrative all the more understandable. Personally, I felt this style worked particularly well for the film, as if it had followed the book's structure we'd see the first half of Adam Ewing's story at the very beginning and not be concluded for another two and a half hours (in which time, one could easily have forgotten some of its significance)! This pointillist method helps show how everything is connected.
Cloud Atlas is by no means a traditional Hollywood film; you can't just leave your brain at the door, and it certainly pays off to devote your full attention to it throughout the piece. Each element of the story is integral to the next, and each individual piece is key to understanding the whole (what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?). The story itself I found to be a life affirming piece; a story of past, present and future; of how everything is connected; and of how a single act of kindness can shape the future in unforeseeable ways.
There are also elements of spirituality to the narrative, as souls cross ages like clouds cross skies (an' tho' a cloud's shape nor hue nor size don't stay the same, it's still a cloud an' so is a soul). Some characters (such as those played by Hugo Weaving and Hugh Grant) seem destined to repeat the same existence, being the forces that stand in the way of – and even openly try to prevent – each story's protagonist from accomplishing their goals, to varying levels of immorality. Meanwhile, Tom Hanks's characters tell a tale of spiritual redemption (from the duplicitous Dr Henry Goose to the kind-hearted Zachry) and Jim Sturgess plays those who fight for equality and justice (from lawyer Adam Ewing, who helps an escaped-slave stowaway and ultimately condemns slavery, to Hae-Joo Chang, a Korean freedom fighter in 2144 who frees the slave-clone Sonmi 451 and initiates a revolution). Keeping track of each actor and the characters they play throughout the film is integral to understanding the overall narrative, as various souls are reincarnated and carry on their spiritual journey across the ages, crossing each other's paths again and again, and finding their soulmates. I find the ideas explored in the film – and the book – incredibly intriguing, and will probably fully explore them and their implications in a future article (whether it'll be in this lifetime or the next is unknown at this time!).
Of course, it would be remiss of me not to commend the cast on their performances throughout the film, as each actor fully embodies a number of personae to portray their progressive life-times. I had to double-take a number of times throughout the viewing, as actors recur in all six of the film's plots, but are completely unrecognisable in some cases (not least Hugo Weaving when he turns up as a despotic female care-worker!). Hugh Grant is another who phenomenally covers an array of characters, and although he's definitely recognisable in the role of Lloyd Hooks, owner of a nuclear power plant on Swannekke Island, Grant is completely transformed in his other roles throughout the film (who'd have thought William Thacker from Notting Hill would become the savage leader of a cannibalistic tribe in 2321?!).
I could go on and on and on, as the fact of the matter is that every actor performs superbly throughout, completely unrecognisable from one role to the next as they not only capture each role but inhabit their characters perfectly. Unfortunately, to properly convey praise for each individual's performance would probably require writing many more pages than is really fitting for a film review, so I'll simply leave it as this: the entire cast provide brilliant performances throughout, consummately embodying their respective characters throughout six different stories, and each actor's fantastic portrayal helped make Cloud Atlas a truly, utterly sublime piece of cinema.
In many ways, Cloud Atlas is much more than another science fiction film; it's a work of art. It is an inspiring, thought-provoking and life-affirming piece of cinema, and is a genuinely remarkable film. It is – in the truest meaning of the word – awesome.
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