Cloud Atlas (film)

Cloud Atlas is a 2012 epic science fiction film write anddirect by the Wachowskis andTom Tykwer .^[8] Based on the 2004 novel by David Mitchell,it has multiple plots occurring during six eras andfeatures an ensemble cast who perform multiple roles across these time periods.

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The film was produced by Grant Hill andStefan Arndt,in addition to the Wachowskis andTykwer. During its four years of development,the producers had difficulties securing financial support. It was eventually produced with a budget between US$100 million andUS$146.7 million provided by independent sources,making it one of the most expensive independent films ever produced. Filming for Cloud Atlas began in September 2011 at Babelsberg Studio in Potsdam-Babelsberg,Germany.

It premiered on 8 September 2012 at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival,^{[ 9 ]} andwas publicly released on 26 October 2012 in conventional andIMAX cinemas.^[10] critic were polarize ,cause it to be include on various ” Best Film ” and” Worst Film ” list .^{[11][12][ 13 ]} It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for Tykwer (who co-scored the film),Johnny Klimek,and Reinhold Heil.^{[ 14 ]} It received several nominations at the Saturn Awards,including Best Science Fiction Film,and won for good editing andBest Make-up.

The story is jumps jump between era ,span hundred of year ,until each storyline eventually resolve . writing from character in prior storyline are find in future storyline . Characters is appear appear to recur in each era ,but change relationship to each other ,suggest reincarnation or other connection between soul through the age .

In the Chatham Islands ,1849 ,american lawyer Adam Ewing is waiting is wait for his transport ship to be repair . He is witnesses witness the whipping of Autua ,an enslaved Moriori man . Autua is stows stow away on Ewing ‘s ship ,having notice Ewing ‘s sympathy ,and persuade him to advocate for Autua to join the crew as a free man . Autua is saves save Ewing ‘s life before the ship ‘s doctor ,Henry Goose ,can poison Ewing andsteal his gold under the guise of treat him for a parasitic worm . In San Francisco ,Ewing is denounce andhis wife Tilda denounce her father ‘s complicity in slavery andleave for New York to join the abolition movement .

In 1936,English composer Robert Frobisher finds work as an amanuensis to aging composer Vyvyan Ayrs,allowing Frobisher to compose his own masterpiece,”The Cloud Atlas Sextet”. As the sextet nears completion,Ayrs demands credit for it andthreatens to expose Frobisher’s bisexuality if he refuses. Frobisher shoots andwounds Ayrs andgoes into hiding. Frobisher finishes the sextet andshoots himself before Frobisher’s lover Rufus Sixsmith arrives.

In San Francisco,1973,journalist Luisa Rey meets Sixsmith,now a nuclear physicist. Sixsmith tips off Rey to a conspiracy to create a catastrophe at a nuclear reactor run by Lloyd Hooks,who secretly promotes oil-energy interests. He is killed by Hooks’ hitman,Bill Smoke,before he can give her a report as proof. Scientist Isaac Sachs passes her a copy of Sixsmith’s report,but Smoke kills Sachs andthen runs Rey’s car off a bridge,destroying the report. With help from the plant’s head of security,Joe Napier,Rey evades another assassination attempt,and Smoke is killed. With another copy of the report from Sixsmith’s niece,Rey exposes the plot andhas Hooks indicted.

In London,2012,gangster Dermot Hoggins murders a critic after a harsh review of his memoir,generating huge sales. Hoggins’ brothers threaten the publisher,the aging Timothy Cavendish,for Hoggins’ profits. Timothy’s brother,Denholme,tells him to hide at Aurora House. Believing Aurora House is a hotel,Timothy signs in,only to discover he has unwittingly committed himself to a nursing home where all outside contact is prohibited; Denholme reveals that he sent Timothy there as revenge for an affair with his wife. Timothy escapes with three other residents,resumes his relationship with an old flame,and writes a screenplay about his experience.

In Korea in 2144,Sonmi-451 is a “fabricant”,a humanoid clone indentured as a fast food server in a dystopian Neo Seoul. She is exposed to ideas of rebellion by another fabricant,Yoona-939,who has obtained a clip of the movie about Cavendish’s involuntary institutionalization. After Yoona is killed,Sonmi is rescued by rebel Commander Hae – Joo Chang,who exposes Sonmi to the banned writings of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn andthe full film version of Cavendish’s experience. Eventually,Hae-Joo shows her that fabricants are actually recycled into food that keeps them acquiescent. Sonmi makes a public broadcast of her revelations before the authorities attack,killing Hae-Joo andrecapturing Sonmi. After recounting her story to an archivist,she is executed.

In 2321 ,the tribespeople is is of a post – apocalyptic Hawaii worship Sonmi ,whose recorded testimony is is is the basis of their sacred text . Zachry Bailey ‘s village is visit by Meronym ,a member of an advanced ,off – world society call the prescients ,who are die from a plague . Meronym is searching is search for a forget communication station on Mauna Sol to send an SOS to off – world human . In exchange for heal Zachry ‘s niece ,Catkin ,Meronym is guide by Zachry to the station where Sonmi made her recording . return home ,Zachry is finds find his tribe slaughter by the cannibalistic Kona tribe . He is kills kill the sleep Kona chief andrescue Catkin before he andMeronym fight off the other Kona tribesman . Zachry is join andCatkin join Meronym andthe prescients as their ship leave Big Island . On a distant planet ,Zachry is is is married to Meronym andrecount the story to his grandchild .

The protagonist of each story is indicate inbold.

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Other cast members who appear in more than one segment include Robert Fyfe,Martin Wuttke,Brody Nicholas Lee,Alistair Petrie,and Sylvestra Le Touzel.^{[ 15 ]} In addition,author David Mitchell makes a cameo appearance as a double agent in the futuristic Korea section.^[16]

development

The film is based on the 2004 novel Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Filmmaker Tom Tykwer revealed in January 2009 his intent to adapt the novel andsaid he was working on a screenplay with the Wachowskis,^[17] who is optioned optione the novel .^{[ 18 ]} By June 2010,Tykwer had asked actors Natalie Portman,Tom Hanks,Halle Berry,James McAvoy,and Ian McKellen to star in Cloud Atlas.^[19] By April 2011 ,the Wachowskis is joined join Tykwer in co – direct the film .^{[ 20 ]} In the following May,with Hanks andBerry confirmed in their roles,Hugo Weaving,Ben Whishaw,Susan Sarandon,and Jim Broadbent also joined the cast.^{[ 21 ][22]} Actor Hugh Grant joined the cast days before the start of filming; he was originally supposed to have only five roles,but asked the Wachowskis for a sixth one,and subsequently was also cast as Denholme Cavendish in the 2012 storyline.^[23][24] accord to Berry ,the character of Ovid she play in the 2144 storyline was originally mean to be a female character play by Tom Hanks ,until the director feel that Ovid was a logical part of the journey of the soul play by Berry .^[25]

It was finance by the german production company A Company ,ARD Degeto Film andX Filme . In May 2011 ,Variety report that it had a production budget of$140 million.^{[ 26 ]} The filmmakers secured approximately $20 million from the German government,including € 10 million ($ 11.8 million) from the german Federal Film Fund [de] (DFFF),^{[27][ 28 ]} €100,000 ($118,000) development funding^[29] and€1.5 million ($ 1.8 million) from Medienboard Berlin – Brandenburg ,a german funder ,as part of their plan to film at Studio Babelsberg later in 2011 .^{[ 26 ]} The project also received €1 million ($1.2 million) financial support from Filmstiftung NRW ,^[30] € 750,000 ($887,000) from Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung,€30 million ($35.5 million) from UE – Fonds ( the big proportion of the budget ) ,and€ 300,000 ($ 355,000) from FFF Bayern ,another german organization .^[29] The Wachowskis contributed approximately $7 million to the project out of their own finances.^{[ 31 ]} The budget was updated to $100 million.^{[ 5 ]}

The Wachowskis is stated state that due to lack of financing ,the film was almost abandon several time . However ,they is noted note how the crew was enthusiastic anddetermine : ” They fly — even though their agent call them andsay ,’ They do n’t have the money ,the money ‘s not close .‘“ They specifically praised Tom Hanks’s enthusiasm: “Warner Bros. calls and,through our agent,says they’ve looked at the math anddecided that they don’t like this deal. They’re pulling all of the money away,rescinding the offer. I was shaking. I heard,’Are you saying the movie is dead?’ They were like,’Yes,the movie is dead.’ … At the end of the meeting,Tom says,’Let’s do it. I’m in. When do we start?’ … Tom is said say this unabashed ,enthusiastic ‘ Yes ! ‘ which put our heart back together . We walk away thinking ,this movie is is is dead but somehow ,it ‘s alive andwe ‘re go to make it . “^{[ 32 ]} “Every single time,Tom Hanks was the first who said,’I’m getting on the plane.’ And then once he said he was getting on the plane,basically everyone said,’Well,Tom’s on the plane,we’re on the plane.’ And so everyone flew [to Berlin to begin the film]. It was like this giant leap of faith. From all over the globe.”^{[ 31 ]}

Some German journalists called it “the first attempt at a German blockbuster”.^[33]

Principal photography

Tykwer andthe Wachowskis filmed parallel to each other using separate camera crews.^[34] Although all three shot scenes together when permitted by the schedule,the Wachowskis mostly directed the 1849 story andthe two set in the future,while Tykwer directed the stories set in 1936,1973,and 2012 .^[35] Tykwer said that the three directors planned every segment of the film together in pre-production,and continued to work closely together through post-production.^[36] Warner Bros. Pictures representatives agreed to the film’s 172-minute running time,after previously stating that it should not exceed 150 minutes.^{[ 37 ]}

Filming began at Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam-Babelsberg,Germany,on 16 September 2011 ,the base camp for the production .^[38] Other German locations include the city of Düsseldorf andthe Saxon Switzerland landscape,^[39] furthermore sets^[40] in andnear Edinburgh andGlasgow ,Scotland ,^[41] andthe Mediterranean island of Majorca ,Spain .^[23] Glasgow doubled for both San Francisco andLondon.^[38] Scenes filmed in Scotland feature the new Clackmannanshire Bridge^[42] near Alloa . The ” Big Island ” and” Pacific Islands ” story were shoot on Majorca ,mostly in the World Heritage site of the Serra de Tramuntana mountain . scene were shoot at Cala Tuent andnear Formentor ,amongst others .^[40] The opening scene,when Adam Ewing meets Dr. Henry Goose,was filmed at Sa Calobra beach. Port de Sóller provided the setting for the scene when the 19th-century ship is mooring.^[43]

The film was meant to be shot in chronological order; however,Berry broke her foot two days before she was supposed to start filming. Instead of replacing her,the Wachowskis andTykwer heavily changed the initial filming schedule; Berry stated that “it involved travelling back andforth to Majorca andthen Germany then we had to go back to Majorca when my foot got a little bit better andwe were able to shoot some of that stuff on the mountainside when I could climb a little bit better. It was all over the place.”^{[ 44 ]} According to her,”Tom [Hanks] would play nurse to me. He really took care of me. He would bring me coffee andsoup andjust stay with me during breaks in shooting because it was difficult for me to move around,especially at the beginning … I basically had to be helped back to my chair after every take,but you learn to adapt to the situation. But with Tom at my side,I was really able to go beyond my own expectations of what I was capable of as an actress.”^{[ 44 ]}

Besides directing the film,Tykwer co-composed the score with his longtime collaborators,Reinhold Heil andJohnny Klimek. The trio worked together for years as Pale 3,composing music for several films directed by Tykwer,most notably Run Lola Run,The Princess andthe Warrior,perfume : The Story of a murderer,and The International. The score was recorded in Leipzig,Germany with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra andthe Leipzig Radio Chorus,and Gene Pritsker orchestrated the score.^[45][46] WaterTower Music released the soundtrack album via digital download on 23 October 2012 andCD on 13 November 2012 .

The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival,where it received a 10-minute standing ovation.^{[ 9 ][ 47 ][48]}

It was released on 26 October 2012 in the United States.^{[49][ 50 ]} Warner Bros. Pictures distributed it in the United States,Canada andthe United Kingdom,and Focus Features International handled sales for other territories.^[51] According to the Wachowskis,Summit Entertainment,who previously worked with Tykwer on perfume : The Story of a murderer,was originally going to distribute it internationally,but ultimately rejected it.^{[ 52 ]}
It was released in cinemas in China on 31 January 2013 with 39 minutes of cuts,including removal of nudity,a sexual scene,and numerous conversations.^[53]

Marketing

A six-minute trailer,accompanied by a short introduction by the three directors describing the ideas behind the creation of the film,was released on 26 July 2012 .^[54] A shorter official trailer was released on 7 September 2012 .^[55] The six-minute trailer includes three pieces of music. The opening piano music is the main theme of the soundtrack (Prelude: The Atlas March/The Cloud Atlas Sextet) by composing trio Tom Tykwer,Johnny Klimek,and Reinhold Heil,followed by an instrumental version of the song “Sonera” from Thomas J. Bergersen’s album Illusions. The song in the last part is “Outro” from M83’s album Hurry Up,We’re Dreaming.^[56]

Critical response

The film garnered divided reactions by both critics andaudiences,with many debating its length andediting of the interwoven stories,but praising other aspects such as the cinematography,score,visual style,ensemble cast,and ambition. The film received a lengthy standing ovation at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival,where it premiered on 9 September 2012 .^{[ 58 ]}

According to review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes,66% of 293 critics gave the film a positive review,with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site’s critics’ consensus is that “Its sprawling,ambitious blend of thought-provoking narrative andeye-catching visuals will prove too unwieldy for some,but the sheer size andscope of Cloud Atlas are all but impossible to ignore.”^[59] Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 55 out of 100,based on 45 critics,indicating “mixed or average reviews”.^[60] According to the website,the film appeared on 14 critics’ top 10 lists for 2012 .^[61] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “C+” on an A+ to F scale.^{[ 62 ]}

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars andranked the film among his best of the year: “One of the most ambitious films ever made … Even as I was watching Cloud Atlas the first time,I knew I would need to see it again. Now that I’ve seen it the second time,I know I’d like to see it a third time … I think you will want to see this daring andvisionary film … I was never,ever bored by Cloud Atlas. On my second viewing,I gave up any attempt to work out the logical connections between the segments,stories andcharacters”.^[63] Conversely,Slant Magazine‘s Calum Marsh called it a “unique andtotally unparalleled disaster” andsaid “[its] badness is fundamental,an essential aspect of the concept andits execution that I suspect is impossible to remedy or rectify.”^[64] Henry Barnes is writing write inThe Guardian said that “At 172 minutes,Cloud Atlas carries all the marks of a giant folly,and those unfamiliar with the book will be baffled”; he gave the film two out of five stars.^[3]

Nick Pickerton,who reviewed the film for The Village Voice,said,”There is a great deal of humbug about art andlove in Cloud Atlas,but it is decidedly unlovable,and if you want to learn something about feeling,you’re at the wrong movie.”^[65] Film critic Mark Kermode on his first viewing called it “an extremely honourable failure,but a failure”,but then on a second viewing for the release of the DVD in the UK stated,”Second time around,I find it to be more engaging – still not an overall success,but containing several moments of genuine magic,and buoyed up by the exuberance of high-vaulting ambition.”^{[66][ 67 ]} Village Voice andTime magazine both named Cloud Atlas the worst film of 2012 .^{[ 13 ]}

Variety described it as “an intense three-hour mental workout rewarded with a big emotional payoff. … One’s attention must be engaged at all times as the mosaic triggers an infinite range of potentially profound personal responses.”^{[ 68 ]} James Rocchi of MSN Movies stated,”It is so full of passion andheart andempathy that it feels completely unlike any other modern film in its range either measured through scope of budget or sweep of action.”^{[ 69 ]} The Daily Beast called Cloud Atlas “one of the year’s most important movies”.^{[ 47 ]} Michael Cieply of The New York Times commented on the film,”You will have to decide for yourself whether it works. It’s that kind of picture. … Is this is Is the stuff of oscar ? Who is knows know ? Is it is Is a force to be reckon with in the come month ? absolutely . “^[70]

Box office

Despite expectations that the film could be a success,^[71] the film opened to $9.6 million from 2,008 theaters,an average of $4,787 per theater,finishing second at the U.S. box office. The debut was described as “dreadful” by Box Office Mojo.^[72] The film ultimately grossed $27.1 million in the U.S. and$103.4 million internationally for a total of $130.5 million.^[73]

reaction from the crew

Directors

On 25 October 2012,after the premiere at Toronto (and despite the standing ovation it received there),Lilly Wachowski^{[ a ]} stated as “soon as [critics] encounter a piece of art they don’t fully understand the first time going through it,they think it’s the fault of the movie or the work of art. They think,’It’s a mess … This doesn’t make any sense.’ And they reject it,just out of an almost knee-jerk response to some ambiguity or some gulf between what they expect they should be able to understand,and what they understand.”^{[ 31 ][ 74 ]}

In the same interview,Lana Wachowski said people “will try to will Cloud Atlas to be rejected. They will call it messy,or complicated,or undecided whether it’s trying to say something New Agey-profound or not. And we’re wrestling with the same things that Dickens andHugo andDavid Mitchell andHerman Melville were wrestling with. We’re wrestling with those same ideas,and we’re just trying to do it in a more exciting context than conventionally you are allowed to. … We don’t want to say,’We are making this to mean this.’ What we find is that the most interesting art is open to a spectrum of interpretation.”^{[ 31 ][ 74 ]}

Cast

Tom Hanks has come to praise Cloud Atlas strongly in the years since its release.^[75] In 2013,he stated “I’ve seen it three times now anddiscovered,I swear to God,different,profound things with each viewing.”^{[ 76 ]} In a 2017 interview,he called it “a movie that altered my entire consciousness,” saying,”it’s the only movie I’ve been in that I’ve seen more than twice.”^[24][77]

Halle Berry said in an interview,”It would be impossible to explain what I really feel or think about the film. It exists on so many different levels. … I love the totality of all the characters.”^{[ 44 ][25]} She talked about playing characters belonging to other ethnicities,and playing a male: “This is so poignant for an actor andsomeone like me,to be able to shed my skin … you know,to do something that I would have never been able to do. If it were not for this kind of project,I still wouldn’t have done that.”^[25]

In a 2017 interview,Jim Broadbent called the film “great to do” and”fantastic”.^{[ 78 ]} In another interview,he expressed disappointment over the commercial failure of the film,saying,”It was an independent film andneeded a lot of money behind it to get it out there. Warner Bros. had the distribution rights but it wasn’t one of their own,so I think it might have been [marketed] harder if it was.”^[79]

Hugh Grant said in an October 2014 interview,”I thought [Cloud Atlas] was amazing. [The Wachowskis] are the bravest film-makers in the world,and I think it’s an amazing film … it’s frustrating to me. Every time I’ve done something outside the genre of light comedy,the film fails to find an audience at the box office. And,sadly,Cloud Atlas never really found the audience it deserved.”^[80] He later said in 2016 “the whole thing was fascinating. You know,when you work with proper people who love cinema,[the Wachowskis are] a special breed,they’re not the same as people who just make movies andwe happen to use cameras. [They are] people who really love cinema.”^[24]

Adaptation is a form of translation,and all acts of translation have to deal with untranslatable spots. … [If] you are the one with knowledge of the “into” language,do what works. When asked whether I mind the changes made during the adaptation of Cloud Atlas,my response is similar: The filmmakers speak fluent film language,and they’ve done what works.

—David Mitchell in The Wall Street Journal^[81]

David Mitchell

Before hearing about the Wachowskis andTykwer’s project,the author David Mitchell believed it was impossible to adapt his book as a film: “My only thought was ‘What a shame this could never be a film. It has a Russian doll structure. God knows how the book gets away with it but it does,but you can’t ask a viewer of a film to begin a film six times,the sixth time being an hour anda half in. They’d all walk out.‘“^[82]

In October 2013,Mitchell called the film “magnificent”,having been very impressed by the screenplay. He was very satisfied by the casting,especially of Hanks,Berry andBroadbent. He said that he could not even remember how he had originally imagined the characters in his mind before seeing the movie.^{[ 83 ]} He also supported the changes from the novel,impressed by how the Wachowskis andTykwer successfully disassembled the structure of the book for the needs of the movie.^{[81][ 83 ]}

Controversy

The advocacy group Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) andseveral commentators online criticized the film’s use of white actors in yellowface to portray East Asian characters in the neo-Seoul sequences.^{[84][ 85 ][86][87][88][89]} MANAA President Guy Aoki said that the film had a double standard,as it used black actors to portray black characters.^{[ 90 ]}

The directors responded that the same multi-racial actors portrayed multiple roles of various nationalities andraces (not just East Asian) across a 500-year story arc,showing “the continuity of souls” critical to the story.^[84] The portrayal of Moriori character Autua by a Black British man was subject to similar scrutiny; it was criticized by some as offensive andconfusing for audiences.^[91][92][93]

Accolades

The film was shortlisted for the Academy Award for good visual effect,but was not nominated in any category.^[94]

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