Cloud Atlas (2012)

Lana and Andy Wachowski are most well-known for being the creators of The Matrix back in 1999, one of the most deep and memorable of modern action movies. Independent German director Tom Tykwer is most remembered for his rapid-fire escapade Run Lola Run, which dealt with three parallel timelines that showed different outcomes for characters and events in the same scenario. Put those two original and semi-complex films together and you scratch the surface of what their new collaboration Cloud Atlas is like. Based on the apparently popular book by David Mitchell, it is a series of stories ranging in time periods from far in the past to far in the future and featuring characters who find themselves in similar situations again and again, and with previous character's actions affecting those in the future, and so on. I hear that the stories in the book are told chronologically, but in the film, they are all lumped together, jumping back and forth in time at such an incredible speed that you will never notice that three hours have passed when it's over. You also run the risk of getting completely lost.

Cloud Atlas is a genuine marvel of modern cinema. It is, above all else, a film of extreme visual splendor. All of the sequences are a joy to see, even if you are having trouble keeping up. Personally, I didn't, though I know I will need to see it one or two more times to fully wrap my mind around everything that happened. I think the key to understanding the movie is not trying to think about it too much. If you simply let the picture unfold before you, it will make sense enough to make an impact. A creative way the filmmakers help us note the similarities in the stories is by having all the actors play multiple characters throughout time. The movie stars people like Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving and Jim Sturgess. They are all talented individuals who have powerful presences on-screen. We don't have any trouble recognizing them, even under heavy make-up and thick accents, because each actors' multiple characters are all alike. This is the movie extending the book's themes of ripples through time and what an individual's actions can do in the future. By using the same actors in each story, the movie enforces a deja vu technique of storytelling that theoretically should complicate things beyond remedy, but it actually makes things all the more interesting.

Cloud Atlas is sparking a great deal of debate among film fans with some arguing that it is a masterpiece and others that it is a confusing mess. I am on the masterpiece side, though I can easily understand how someone would have trouble deciphering its many layers. I say that its greatness is partially due to its not being so easily comprehended. It's so rare that a big-budget movie like this comes along that does break free from the ordinary that I don't really mind if it causes mass hysteria in the process. At the very least, it is not a movie you will easily forget, and I don't think its a requirement that you understand it right off anyway. The only thing you can do with a movie like this is see it no matter what, think about it a few days and see it again. Things should be clear enough then.

10/10