Although a bit jarring, this creative choice well serves the message of the narrative that these are the exact same souls we have seen in 1849, 1936, 1973, 2012, 2321, as well as 2144 there is no confusion about who’s who in a story that’s already overloaded with plot details to keep track of. Yes, in the 2144 scenes taking place in Neo-Seoul, there are a number of white actors who have been styled with facial prosthetics into Koreans. Because the story takes place across many generations and involves the same soul returning again again, the film’s creators elected to have the same actor play the corresponding soul even when they had hopped into the body of someone of another race and/or culture. Cloud Atlas uses artful nonlinear storytelling to unfold the many threads of this gorgeous tapestry, which explores the meaning of life and love in the framework of reincarnation.īut unfortunately, Cloud Atlas’s reception was marred by accusations of racism that overshadowed the reality of the film and everything marvelous that played out on screen.
We watch the evolution of some of these souls as they seek freedom, as we also see the impacts of devilish tormentor souls from era to era as they thrive on chaos, exploitation, and subjugation of others. Each actor in the phenomenal core cast of Doona Bae, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Jim Broadbent, Keith David, Ben Whishaw, Xun Zhou, James D’Arcy, and Hugh Grant plays multiple roles across each generation of the intersected stories, including race and gender-bending for all involved. Each of these souls in physical form possess the same comet birthmark, just one of the ways their lives are bound together through love and cruelty, oppression and liberation.
Each post will start with a summary and commentary on the section in question, followed by thoughts on the story, style, themes, characters, and so forth.Cloud Atlas tells the tale of a group of connected souls as they journey through time from 1849 all the way past 2321. Spurred by the upcoming moving adaptation by the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer, I will be looking at a section of this magnificent, complex book every week, ending the week the movie comes out (on October 26th).
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell, is one of my favourite novels.
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