Heyall. I was just wondering if anybody else has heard of a film called Cloud Atlas. It is a fairly obscure title that wasn't around in theaters for very long, but I can't think of any other film that has had such a polarizing effect on critics. People either really, really love it or really, really hate it. I happen to lean more towards the love it side overall, though I do have some complaints.
Based on a novel written in 2004, the story, or stories, take place over the course of hundreds of years. Showing how the actions of a single person can carry down the centuries to affect the lives of others. An amazing set up that could have been done a lot worse. It is a hard film to follow, really hard to follow. But the alternation between these six different eras were surprisingly well put together. Clocking in at 3 hours, I'd say the way this film was put together grabbed my attention more than Avatar or Les Mis ever could.
Another amazing feature is how in each story line they reuse the same actors, and one thing this film is praised for is it's amazing make-up jobs for the six or seven different characters they have to play as.
My big complaint about it though, is with my favorite story arc. Set in a 22nd century Korea, I did enjoy the futuristic sci fi dystopian setting. There is just one problem. Remember the amazing make-up job this film has? It's at this point where it turns against them. The main protagonist, Sonmi 451 was played by a native Korean. But most of the other cast members were white people with eye makeup to make them look Asian. Jim Sturgess, James D'Arcy, and probably the most ridiculous of them all, Hugo Weaving, all had what would be considered "yellowface" done to make their eyes altered to look Asian, but nothing else was done to remove the white features of their faces.
Overall, that's the only complaint I have for this movie and the only big setback from making it perfect for me. In general, I think this film was definitely an amazing thrill ride that blends genres of historical fiction, period drama, mystery, comedy, and dystopian sci fi. For a collab between the directors of The Matrix and Run Lola Run, I think this is probably the best way they could have put together a book that was considered unfilmable.
