Cloud Atlas

"Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others. Past and present. And by each crime; and every kindness we birth our future."

When I first saw the Cloud Atlas trailer, I knew it was something I'd have to see in theaters because for one thing, the trailer is beautiful and I love Tom Tykwer's work. But from everything I'd read, I knew this movie was taking a pretty expensive chance and that's something I respect. And even though this film wasn't for everyone, for me it paid off.

Cloud Atlas, based on David Mitchell's book, interweaves six different stories in six time periods and uses the same cast for each story. In 1849, Adam Ewing (Jim Sturgess), an American lawyer, sails from the Chatham Islands back to America and must decide what to do with a runaway slave (David Gyasi) who has stowed away on board. In 1936, aspiring composer Robert Frobisher (Ben Whitshaw) tries to overcome his scandalous past by writing his masterwork, the Cloud Atlas Sextet. In 1973, spunky, young reporter Luisa Rey (Halle Berry) tries to uncover a suppressed safety report of a nearby nuclear reactor. In 2012, Timothy Cavendish (Jim Broadbent)  tries to escape his nursing home after being put there by his brother (Hugh Grant). In 2144, Sonmi-451 (Doona Bae), a fabricant working at a restaurant, is freed by a member of the resistance (Jim Sturgess) and learns of the unjust treatment of her fellow fabricants. Finally, 106 winter after the Fall, Zachry (Tom Hanks), a primitive tribesman struggles with his darker side (Hugo Weaving) while guiding a technologically advanced Prescient (Halle Berry) to Cloud Atlas.

This film was absolutely beautiful and did not for a moment feel like its three hour run time. They also managed to take a group of actors, many of whom haven't been in a good movie in years, and push them in often drastically different roles to show a character develop not over the course of a life but of civilization. The stories rely heavily on two major themes, reincarnation and the weak struggling against the strong. The trailer portrays it as a love story, but in actuality it is so much more. It shows the rippling effect of one's actions, good and bad, throughout time as well as a person's ability to evolve and improve as they become the person they are meant to be. Tom Hanks, for instance, changes from a sinister and conniving doctor in the first story to a family man who is able to overcome his fears in the last story. Jim Sturgess changes from a coward into a revolutionary. Others, on the other hand, consistently make poor decisions throughout their existences and remain their baser selves. While reincarnation is not a belief commonly held in the West, it is an excellent metaphor for how we grow and change over our lives. Even the smallest kindnesses have a great effect that can ripple throughout time and change the world in ways we cannot imagine. This is definitely one that will require repeat viewings so see all the connections.