Past, Present and Future Lives, A movie that tells six stories, all in one. Over a span of 500 years, each story connected to the next in subtle ways all the while becoming more apparent as the time passes and the stories slowly mesh into one. This is Cloud Atlas, the newest movie release at the local cinema that I saw over the weekend.
Cloud Atlas is an epic science fiction film that travels through centuries of time with an emphasis on several inter-connected stories starring an international ensemble cast that features Halle Berry, Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant and Hugo Weaving.
It bears mentioning that the character’s portrayed by Hanks, Berry and Weaving appear in some shape or form in all six vignettes and will be very interesting if one can guess who is who in the various costumes and make-up. If you don’t guess them all correctly when you first see them, stick around for the credits.
From the opening scene of a monologue delivered by a man from an apocalyptic future, (One of Tom Hanks several character roles) to a journalist in the 1970’s recording her suspicions of a corporation’s misdeeds, (Halle Berry) to a suicide in the 19th century along with sibling rivalry in the present time, culminating in a great escape, to a futuristic clone learning what it is to be human that sparks a revolution, all centered on one unifying theme: The eternal struggle between the forces of creation and destruction, good and evil, love and hate, the struggle for the freedom to be oneself and to make the choices that one of the character’s that Halle Berry inhabits so emphatically says “you don’t want to make.”
Each story jumps back and forth with a frequency that can often confuse you and make you dizzy but with patience the connections and linear path of the overall big picture becomes clearer. This is definitely a thinking person’s sci-fi movie.
However as good as this movie was to me i can see it being a hard movie to tolerate and grasp by some. To present this type of storytelling in the way that the Wachowski’s have is very risky and i applaud their efforts. This is the best movie that they have made since the first “Matrix” film.
This is also one film that you definitely don’t want to go to the bathroom or get that refill on popcorn during the proceedings because you’ll be saying what happened? when you come back in (At least that was what one person said when she returned lol).
In Summary: Cloud Atlas is a visually impressive thought provoking piece of cinematic entertainment although it’s a bit polarizing. You will either like it or you won’t. Fortunately i did.
