Scott-Charles writes about Cloud Atlas in his first post on this blog. Formatting will be tested, things will be said, and my portion of the blog will begin after the jump.
Cloud Atlas
I realize I am cheating a little bit. I'm supposed to start with the Count of Monte Cristo, but I really wanted to begin by talking about Cloud Atlas. The following has minor spoilers and mostly describes what Cloud Atlas is.Cloud Atlas is the 2004 novel written by David Mitchell and the 2012 film directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer. It is also, according to Time Magazine, the worst movie of the year. Dismissing the fact Battleship came in 2012 as well, making it unlikely that Cloud Atlas can even be a contender for such a title, it is a fact that Cloud Atlas is incredibly divisive.
There is nothing like Cloud Atlas. At least, nothing that I have experienced. I first came into contact with Cloud Atlas when I saw this trailer:
It's weird being on the other end of the past few months. Back when I first saw this, it was almost incomprehensible. But it hooked me. Soon, I read the book and finally the film came out.
Cloud Atlas tells 6 separate, but intricately connected story lines that take place in different places and times. When I first heard of the concept, I imagined that each story would be connected by actions. For example, character X in storyline A does something that results in event M in storyline B. Such instances are actually pretty rare as the stories are mostly connected by a web of themes.
The book works like a mirror. The first half of the first story is followed by the second story. This follows until we get to the sixth story, which goes uninterrupted. After the six story, the second half of each story is told in reverse chronological order. If each of the six storylines is given a letter A to F, then the novel is structured as follows: A1, B1, C1, D1, E1, F1, F2, E2, D2, C2, B2, A2
When one is reading the book, one wonders why each story is split in half. One could easily imagine Cloud Atlas being a collection of six uninterrupted short stories. The reason why it works in the why it is published is that, as each story is experienced by the narrator in the following section (The film made of the events in storyline D is seen in storyline E, etc), it gives the feeling that every storyline is happening at once.
Furthermore, it better shows that Cloud Atlas is truly one story. It is the story of humanity's struggle for freedom. Adam Ewing is trapped not only by a greedy doctor, but also is caged by cultural norms that he finds abhorrent. Robert Frobisher is trapped by the way he is perceived by those around him. Luisa Rey stumbles into an intense corporate conspiracy. Timothy Cavendish is satirically caged by a nursing home. Sonmi struggles to be more despite being considered less than human. And finally, Zachry believes that he has been cursed by the devil.
The book also observes the evolution of language. Ewing's story might have been written Herman Melville and the Frobisher section feels a lot like Flaubert. The Luisa Rey section is undoubtedly inspired by hard-boiled pulp detective stories. And then the Cavendish section feels like it was written today. Then the Sonmi section is written to show how the world has become consumer oriented. Company names have taken the place many nouns. Instead of watching movies, they watch disneys. Instead of taking pictures, they take kodaks (This reference does not really work anymore, but it gets the idea across.) The Sonmi section reminds one clearly of George Orwell's 1984 and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. And after the an apocalyptic event, language in Zachry's section has completely devolved. At first, it feels like one is reading an entirely different language. '
But despite changing centuries, languages, and countries, the human spirit still strives forward. Not every character succeeds. It's sad, happy, depressing, inspiring, and all happening at the same time. It also contemplates the idea that even if something is a fictional account, it being experienced means that it did indeed happen. For all Sonmi knows, Timothy Cavendish is a fictional character in a film. Yet because we experience it earlier in the book, it feels as if it is just as real as Sonmi's section.
The movie works very differently. The best way to describe the movie would be as a 2.5 hour montage. It sounds like a mess, but it comes off more like a dream. A character will open a door in storyline A and then the film will cut to a different character walking through a door in storyline B. Everything moves at a quick and even pace. One could rightly complain that not enough time is given to feel the full impact of each story. A depressing moment may be followed directly by a happy one with no time to recover from the previous moment. But one must remember, this is not six stories, it's one story.
This structure does not lend itself to passive viewing, as it requires some viewer involvement. Because of that, every viewer will come out of this a little differently. Every viewer will have their favorite storylines. And at any given moment during the film, the viewer might be completely absorbed in the moment on screen, thinking about how it relates to events from the other 5 storylines, still being impacted by a major event that just occurred in another storyline, or thinking about one's own life.
It all sounds exhausting. But both the movie and the book truly do draw one into their rhythms. I will say that I think the book is better. Each section gets more detail and the format of a book better lends itself to this type of thing. That said, I find the film to be more ambitious. The very structure of the film feels like it should not work. Having actors play up to six roles in the movie sounds like a mess. This is even dismissing charges of racism.* Yet, beyond being just clever, it turns into something profound.
I realize now that I have said almost nothing about the stories themselves and what makes them so effective. Cloud Atlas has more going on than its structure. The film is a great showcase for performances one would never expect to see and a healthy dose of the action one would expect to find in a Wachowski film. I could easily see myself returning to do a more detailed look at Cloud Atlas on this blog (if it keeps going long enough), but for the time being, I have probably written enough. The moral of the story is this: Give Cloud Atlas a shot. Both the novel and the film are ambitious and unique.
*The film is often accused of being racist for having white actors being "yellow-faced" for the Sonmi section. Given that racism is literally defined as treating one race as better/worse than another, the fact that several Asian actors wear make up to look like white characters as well makes such charges of racism feel weak. Furthermore, the entire reason that actors play different characters across storylines and, yes, across races, is to demonstrate unity among humanity. Just watching the film will demonstrate how against racism the movie itself is.
Thanks for Reading,
Scott-Charles
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