Cloud Atlas (2012)

Ever since it was announced that Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer were going to attempt to adapt David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas into a feature film, people dismissed the project as a fool’s errand. Now that the movie has been shot, edited and released to the general public, it still doesn’t seem like the smartest idea, but sometimes to make a really unique film you need to be kind of stupid. This is a movie absolutely everyone who cares about movies needs to see, and I do not say this because I love it. It swings and misses far too often, and whenever it tries to deliver an emotional wallop it only succeeds a small percentage of the time. Everyone needs to see Cloud Atlas because we need to encourage more wildly ambitious projects like Cloud Atlas. That the Wachowskis and Tykwer were able to scoop up $100 million and make this cluttered behemoth is a darned miracle. I’d like to see stuff like this happen more often, even if the final product doesn’t quite work.

For those unfamiliar, Cloud Atlas takes place at six different points in human history: the mid-19^th century, the early 20^th century, the ’70s, modern day, the dystopian future, then finally well after the Earth is reduced to rubble. The movie throws all these storylines on top of one another, and then spends the almost three-hour running time cutting between them all in a manner very similar to the final act of Christopher Nolan’s Inception. To connect these disparate environments and plots, the Wachowskis and Tykwer use one large ensemble with each actor playing multiple roles. Over the course of the film, each performer tackles various races and ages, and this usually requires a heavy dose of makeup. In fact, there are a few moments when the actors are downright unrecognizable. This stacked ensemble includes such names as Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, James D’Arcy, Doona Bae, Zhou Xun and Keith David. Some are utilized much more than others, and you get the feeling there must be a five-hour director’s cut sitting around somewhere. As laborious as this version can occasionally be, I think a full, uncut version of Cloud Atlas could be quite fascinating if viewed over a couple days.

However, this may be the rare case of a great cast backfiring on the film itself. The decision to use the same ensemble through all these stories is neat in theory, but in practice it can occasionally distract the audience. There are multiple “wait, is that…?” moments that briefly take us out of the picture, and even though the makeup and costuming is mostly outstanding—this crew should probably win that Oscar in a walk—it doesn’t always work. It has been proven time and time again that aging makeup is usually a mistake. There are a few cases here where it comes close to working, but it is all undone by such travesties as an elderly Hugh Grant who looks like no human being ever.

My biggest problems with the movie comes from the way that Tykwer and the Wachowskis decided to put it together. If nothing else, they have certainly proven that material like Cloud Atlas can successfully be adapted. I’m just not convinced they pulled it off here. I like the idea of cutting between the various stories to create emotional peaks and valleys for the audience, but there’s a point where it becomes too much. No matter how skillfully you’re able to keep these six balls in the air, the audience needs to take a break once in a while. At its worst, Cloud Atlas feels like an unnecessary assault of too many things happening at once. I would have liked to hang out in one of these universes for a while before getting yanked right out of it again.

There’s also the matter of tone, and like the rest of Cloud Atlas it is consistently inconsistent. I very much enjoyed that the movie never takes itself too seriously, but it doesn't quite find a way to let the audience know exactly what effect it's going for from scene to scene. One of the stories involves Jim Broadbent’s Timothy Cavendish finding himself locked up in an unfortunate place, and as his tale goes on it eventually devolves into very broad comedy. The good news is this: without the context of the rest of the film, it’s pretty darn entertaining. Within the context of the film it makes almost zero sense. This is a funny movie at times, and it’s supposed to be, but the Cavendish storyline was the only major aspect of the story that I felt could have been removed. Not that I’d want to lose a genuinely funny story, of course. Just take it out of here and release it as a short film or something. It’s entertaining on its own, but every time the story came onscreen you could feel the audience bracing for a sharp left turn. It was an enjoyable enough left turn, but it still winds up hurting the movie as a whole.

Even though Cloud Atlas is inevitably a weird, weird movie, Tykwer and the Wachowskis have very "
"Hollywood" sensibilities that keep the proceedings from feeling all that strange. There’s a reason this movie is getting a wide release right out of the gate; Warner Bros. clearly feels that there’s something marketable in this movie. They’re not wrong. The cast is made up of Movie Stars (intentionally capitalized), and it is never really that challenging of a film. If you’re able to keep up with where you are at any given moment, you’ll probably do just fine. The text of the film is pretty straightforward. If we start talking about subtext it’s going to get a lot more interesting.

How much one appreciates it is going to depend on whether it connects with Cloud Atlas as one story that spans thousands of years, or a six-story pileup with each plot waiting its turn to get some screen time. There are already many Cloud Atlas superfans and many Cloud Atlas detractors, and it isn’t that surprising to me that I wind up squarely in the middle. My opinion of this movie changed every five seconds, and it really depended on the specific moment I was watching at that particular time. One moment I’d be totally invested in the stories and what the filmmakers were trying to say, then the next minute I’d be completely taken out of the experience by some alienating detail. Watching this movie was like going to an inconsistent hypnotist. One second the trance is working, then the next second I snap right back out of it.

Even in its weakest moments, it’s impossible to dismiss what the filmmakers have attempted to accomplish here. At the very least, Cloud Atlas is a gorgeous movie (it was shot by Frank Griebe and John Toll), and it is trying to do something that few other filmmakers would dare to do. Heck, these may be the only three filmmakers on Earth who were excited by the prospect of tackling Mitchell’s novel. Cloud Atlas embodies the very spirit of moviemaking; Tykwer and the Wachowskis decided they were going to go out and make this movie, they got the funding and they went ahead and did it. That they were able to come out with something at least semi-coherent is a testament to their passion for this material. I may not be the biggest fan of the movie right now, but there’s plenty of time left for me to change my mind. In fact, it’s such a exhilarating folly that I may have to see it again in a week or two just to fully wrap my head around it. I’m smart enough to recognize originality and ambition when I see it, and anyone who pretends to care about the direction movies are headed needs to put their money where their mouth is and do the same. The existence of Cloud Atlas is one of the great cinematic miracles of the year. Whether the movie itself is any good will depend on the viewer. Some will drink the Kool-Aid. Many others will spit it out in disgust.

Grade: B-