Cloud Atlas Update April 2022

 

 

Cloud Atlas 2012

Update 16 April 2022

• Director: Tom Tykwer
• Based on book by David Mitchell
• Cast: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, Keith David, James D’Arcy, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in: (as of January 2016)
• Tom Hanks – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Catch Me If You Can, Road to Perdition, Cast Away, The Green Mile, You’ve Got Mail, Saving Private Ryan, Forest Gump, Philadelphia, Sleepless in Seattle, A League of Their Own, Joe and the Volcano, Punchline
• Halle Berry – Things We Lost in the Fire, Monster’s Ball, X-Men, Bullworth, Jungle Fever
• Jim Broadbent – Filth, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Another Year, The Young Victoria, Hot Fuzz, Vera Drake, Gangs of New York, Moulin Rouge, Topsy-Turvy, Little Voice, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Richard III, The Crying Game, Enchanted April, Life is Sweet, Brazil, Black Adder
• Hugo Weaving – The Hobbit the Battle of the Five Armies, The Hobbit an Unexpected Journey, V for Vendetta, Little Fish, Lord of the Rings 1-3, Matrix 1-3, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
• Jim Sturgess – The Other Boleyn Girl, Across the Universe
• Ben Whishaw – Spectre, Skyfall, The Hollow Crown – Richard II, The Tempest, Bright Star, Brideshead Revisited, I’m Not There
• Keith David – Crash, Requiem for a Dream, Armageddon, Dead Presidents, Clockers, Reality Bites, Stars and Bars, Platoon
• James D’Arcy – Bonekickers, Wilde
• Davis Gyasi – The Dark Knight Rises
• Susan Sarandon – Emotional Arithmetic, Romance and Cigarettes, The Exonerated, Alfie, Moonlight Mile, The Banger Sisters, Igby Goes Down, Anywhere but Here, Cradle Will Rock, Dead Man Walking, Little Women, The Client, Lorenzo’s Oil, Thelma and Louise, White Palace, A Dry White Season, The January Man, Bull Durham, The Witches in Eastwick, Atlantic City. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Hugh Grant – Music and Lyrics, American Dreamz, Love Actually, About a Boy, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Notting Hill, Sense and Sensibility, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Remains of the Day, Impromptu
• Why? Sci-fi. The cast.
• Seen:  3 January 2016  

       It jumps back and forth in time and space in a phantasmagorical tapestry of stories, one odder than the next. Past, present, future, history, fantasy, magic, murder, suicide, memories, prophesies, humour – is there anything this movie doesn’t have?

       It’s confusing for a long time but it doesn’t matter. Each scene, each story, each woven thread is fascinating and a kind of coherence emerges slowly.

       The actors all play multiple roles and part of the fun is trying to recognise them behind all of the outlandish costumes and make-up. 

4 ½ * of 5

 

Update 16 April 2022:

       After seeing the film, I bought the book and now I’ve finally read it. What a disappointment. Thin story, long, boring.

       Do I remember the film wrong? Let’s see.

       Film advantage 1: It jumps much more quickly between the six stories, avoiding the book’s plodding pace.

       Film advantage 2: The actors, playing vastly different multiple roles, bringing life to the book’s stiffly dull characters. It’s especially enjoyable to see Hugh Grant as a savage elaborately tattooed warrior. Not to mention Hugo Weaving as a Nurse Ratched type.

       Film advantage 3: The film’s strong visuals are ever so much better than the book’s endless droning descriptions.

       Film advantage 4: The film makes much more sense, even in its wildness.

       Sum total? This is one of the many films that are much better than the book. Thank goodness for film makers. The rating is still 

4 ½ * of 5