Cloud Atlas (2012)
One of my buddies recommended to me to have a peek into this movie with which he was trying to make the head from the tail in this confusing film in which 6 stories from different era all run concurrently flip-flopping between scenes.
It narrates scenes ranging from what appeared like prehistoric (it turned out to be way past heights of modernism, the nihilistic future, year 2321) to 2144, 2012, 1973, 1936 and 1849.
I thought the story would highlight how one small action in the past would change the future, sadly I was disappointed. It only shows specks of 6 small stories interwoven as each continues on. The only thing that seem to bind each other is the actors who play different plots in various stories. I thought the soul of the same actors in different stories were the same and their actions in previous lives would somehow affect their next live, sadly it was only in my imagination! Only the 2144 and 2321 stories had certain link, the Somni goddess.
The first story narrates a young man who witnesses the brutal treatment of slaves. He saves a slave who later saves his life. He stands up against his father-in-law involvement in slave trade and joins the anti-salve movement. His book on about his travels to the Pacifics is read by the character in the next story.
The second narrates a bisexual who escapes from being with his male lover to work as an underwriter (amanuensis) to a great musical composer. His own composition is hijacked by his employer, hence he is stabbed and the protagonist escapes. He commits suicide after publishing his masterpiece.
The third offering is about an investigative journalist (Lisa Rey, Halle Berry) who is in trouble with the big boys of the petrolium industry as she tries to uncover a sinister plot to accidentally cause a nuclear mishap so that petrol is chosen over nuclear energy in spite of its safety and economic superiority. She is mesmerized by the classical music piece of the second story. The link stops there.
The next piece is about a down and out publisher who become an overnight success when his rogue writer throw a critic off a balcony! When his henchmen demand his share, the publisher tries to borrow money from his brother who dupes him to be incarcerated in a old folks' home against his will. He escapes and makes it big by publishing Rey's story and a screenplay of his adventure in the old folks home. The film is watched by the character in the next story.
The following story, in my opinion, has the best cinematography and CGIs. It is supposed to happen in the future where workers are cloned and discarded like commodities. A renegade clone (Somni451, Doona Bae who acted in Air Doll) decides to expose this exploitation to the world. She is executed but is later worshiped as a deity in the next story.
The future is bleak. People are living like in the pre-historic times with bare necessities and hunting each other like savages. Zachry (Tom Hank) acts here a cowardly man with visions of a demon always on his back. He is visited by Meronym with advanced technology (Halle Berry) who saved Zachry from savages and transport them to another planet.
That is my interpretation of the above movie. It is star studded independent movie which boast the likes of Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Doona Bae and Hugh Grant in a few small roles. The make up is excellent with some Caucasian actors were transformed to have oriental features.
I thought the story would highlight how one small action in the past would change the future, sadly I was disappointed. It only shows specks of 6 small stories interwoven as each continues on. The only thing that seem to bind each other is the actors who play different plots in various stories. I thought the soul of the same actors in different stories were the same and their actions in previous lives would somehow affect their next live, sadly it was only in my imagination! Only the 2144 and 2321 stories had certain link, the Somni goddess.
The first story narrates a young man who witnesses the brutal treatment of slaves. He saves a slave who later saves his life. He stands up against his father-in-law involvement in slave trade and joins the anti-salve movement. His book on about his travels to the Pacifics is read by the character in the next story.
The second narrates a bisexual who escapes from being with his male lover to work as an underwriter (amanuensis) to a great musical composer. His own composition is hijacked by his employer, hence he is stabbed and the protagonist escapes. He commits suicide after publishing his masterpiece.
The third offering is about an investigative journalist (Lisa Rey, Halle Berry) who is in trouble with the big boys of the petrolium industry as she tries to uncover a sinister plot to accidentally cause a nuclear mishap so that petrol is chosen over nuclear energy in spite of its safety and economic superiority. She is mesmerized by the classical music piece of the second story. The link stops there.
The following story, in my opinion, has the best cinematography and CGIs. It is supposed to happen in the future where workers are cloned and discarded like commodities. A renegade clone (Somni451, Doona Bae who acted in Air Doll) decides to expose this exploitation to the world. She is executed but is later worshiped as a deity in the next story.
That is my interpretation of the above movie. It is star studded independent movie which boast the likes of Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Doona Bae and Hugh Grant in a few small roles. The make up is excellent with some Caucasian actors were transformed to have oriental features.
The official synopsis for Cloud Atlas describes the film as: "An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolutionThe only similarity among all the stories is that there is violence, revolution and uprising all through man's history. People are never happy with they have, they always revolt hoping that the better future.
Comments
Post a Comment