I had this in the pipe for some time, now I decided to watch it finally. It takes a deep breath for em to sit through three hours of an episodic drama. Was it worth the time?
Cloud Atlas starts as if trailers of six different movies had been mixed together by a drunk apprentice. After all the madness is put into system as one of characters somewhere in this continuum. We see six different stories, from past, present and future. The point is that none of the stories is supposed to work in its own right, but as interlinked to each other. Quotation:
What Cloud Atlas as film then? The script oscillates between sophisticated and mundane. Some stories are not told in a satisfying way. I still wonder why Frobisher had to kill himself. The only reason I can think of is that didn't him anymore in the plot. Also the episodes from the future are strange. Why is Tom Hanks speaking like a hillbilly?
Of course the same actors have to play very different roles in different stages of time, but again some casting decisions are just ridiculous, if not preposterous (like Doona Bae as Tilda Ewing). I wonder why Tom Hanks is still working with Tykwer.
On teh positive side is elegant cinematography and clever cutting from one story to the next. This is a very enjoying feature of this film.
This pretensions of this film are close to megalomania. At least it is something that they didn't fail halfway, but managed to finish the concept to the very end. Yes, it should stay unique, a solitary tour de force. A film not like many other films, but then I wouldn't want to want many films of this kind.
5/10
Cloud Atlas starts as if trailers of six different movies had been mixed together by a drunk apprentice. After all the madness is put into system as one of characters somewhere in this continuum. We see six different stories, from past, present and future. The point is that none of the stories is supposed to work in its own right, but as interlinked to each other. Quotation:
Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others. Past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.To me this is a very thin tagline for a film that is running almost three hours. If you don't have to say more than this in terms of metaphysics, then leave it out and just concentrate on the cinematic experience. I don't know the book and its message, so I cannot comment on the screen adaptation. And then the film shoulI wonder whd be able to walk on its own feet. So maybe the appeal is bigger in the book and the script writers failed to broadcast their message.
What Cloud Atlas as film then? The script oscillates between sophisticated and mundane. Some stories are not told in a satisfying way. I still wonder why Frobisher had to kill himself. The only reason I can think of is that didn't him anymore in the plot. Also the episodes from the future are strange. Why is Tom Hanks speaking like a hillbilly?
Of course the same actors have to play very different roles in different stages of time, but again some casting decisions are just ridiculous, if not preposterous (like Doona Bae as Tilda Ewing). I wonder why Tom Hanks is still working with Tykwer.
On teh positive side is elegant cinematography and clever cutting from one story to the next. This is a very enjoying feature of this film.
This pretensions of this film are close to megalomania. At least it is something that they didn't fail halfway, but managed to finish the concept to the very end. Yes, it should stay unique, a solitary tour de force. A film not like many other films, but then I wouldn't want to want many films of this kind.
5/10
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