Review of Cloud Atlas (2012) by Amie G — 29 Mar 2014

An unusual exercise in film-making, some of which pays off, some of which doesn't. I read the book a few years ago and generally found the futuristic sections interesting, the past sections not so much.

The directors have gone for some odd choices here, first and foremost the idea of casting the same actors in different roles across the film's six time periods, which is a nice idea in theory, but as the film switches between sections constantly, it can often get confusing.

Couple that with ludicrous make-up; making the white and black actors look Asian, the Asian actors look white and Hispanic, the young actors look old, the male actors look female and vice versa..... it dives head on into the uncanny valley and the end result is more like an amateur pantomime than an epic science fiction film.

While I get that the aim of the film is to show the effects of the characters' actions across time, the problem is that none of the sections individually have much of a story on their own. One aspect that the film achieves perfectly though is the cinematography; you can't argue that the Wachowskis and Tykwer know how to shoot a scene and it shows here - Neo Seoul looks fantastic and the other sets are pretty good as well, the time period switching is complemented by camera trickery and while it is often confusing, it is never boring or uninspiring to look at and despite being three hours, its run time does not feel bloated.

Although not that great of a story, it's a film I still highly recommend watching for its uniqueness alone.