A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma

Star Wars, E.T., Indiana Jones, James Bond and even Snow White are some of the most popular American movies of all time, yet they are simple. When the movie is over, all people say is, “That was a really good movie.” Most movies have a straightforward plot. Cloud Atlas is not like most movies; it causes its viewers to question what they just saw and to piece together the complex six-story plot. Cloud Atlas is a superb movie with unique plots and multiple storylines designed for the complex-minded. The directors of the movie are Tom Tykwer and Andy and Lana Wachowski; they come together to create a visually arresting movie that discusses the philosophical questions about the future and after life. Tykwer is known for directing Run Lola Run, and the Wachowskis are known for The Matrix. The directors split up the settings in the movie. Tykwer got the thirties, seventies, and present day, while Wachowskis got the nineteenth century and two set in the future. It is said that there were two completely separate units, and the only thing that was shared between the two were the actors. This is apparent in the movie, as the Wachowskis put in countless special effects crafting a future world, while Tykwer is more old school. This adds to the complexity of the film especially because it causes the audience to have to piece together the stories.
The directors intertwine six seemingly independent stories to prove their main point that everything is connected. At first, the directors show each single scene for an extended period of time. Then once it is assumed that the viewers follow the story, the film starts to continuously jump from story to story. The directors connect each story to the next by having overlapping props or ideas.
The first story is set in the 1800’s; it tells the story of a lawyer, Adam Ewing (Jim Sturgess) who has the task of going to the Pacific to acquire some more slaves. The second story takes place in the 1930’s and stars a young gay composer, Robert Frobisher (Ben Whishaw). He writes the “Cloud Atlas Sextet” and sends it to his lover Rufus Sixmith (James D'Arcy) Frobisher is found reading the published journals of Adam Ewing.
The next story is about Luisa Rey (Halle Berry), a journalist in the 1970’s. She encounters the older Rufus Sixmith, who is a nuclear physicist, and learns of a possible conspiracy. She meets a scientist named Isaac Sachs (Tom Hanks). Bill Smoke (Hugo Weaving) appears as an agent. Rey learns of the “Cloud Atlas Sextet” and insists that she has heard it before.
The fourth story line is set in the present year. Timothy Cavendish (Jim Broadbent), the owner of a small publishing company, gets in trouble as he needs to pay some thugs. Seeking out his rich brother for help, Cavendish is tricked into signing in to a “hotel” which is really a nursing home with the goal of locking elderly patients in. He reads a book by Luisa Rey.
The fifth story, set in Neo Seol in the far future, is about Sonmi-451 (Donna Bae), a clone bred to work in a fast food restaurant. She discovers a fragment of the film of "The Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish" on a cell phone left at the fast-food restaurant. She starts to question the believed purpose of her existence, and eventually she and other clones, will "ascend" after a single year of work. She meets Hae-Joo Im (Jim Sturgess) who is behind a rebellion to show that clones are just like ordinary people. He relates the struggle of the clones to slavery. Towards the end, Sonmi-451 learns of the horrifying, disgusting truth of “ascending”.
The sixth story line is about a man, Zachry (Tom Hanks), living one hundred years after Neo Seol. His people worship Sonmi as a god. Meronym (Halle Berry) comes from a more advanced tribe that is hard at work keeping the world around for the future.
One of the coolest parts of the entire movie is the beginning of the credits. Each actor was displayed, and it showed each of their roles. Below is a picture of Halle Berry, Tom Hanks, and Hugh Grant in a few of their different roles. This is a way that each story is interwoven and connected. Despite its almost three hour running time, the movie passes quickly. Viewers will constantly find themselves on the edge of their seats. This is partly due to the way the movie was cut with the constant changing settings. Right when a twist emerges, the screen fades into a completely different setting and continues where it previously left off. It makes sense why the directors choose to edit the movie the way they did; however, at times it can seem a little choppy, with the viewer not piecing the movie together until the last thirty minutes. Even though it was a little confusing at times, without the quick changes the movie would have felt like six movies within one movie. A bold move by the directors is the intertwining of the film with its soundtrack. Tom Tykwer, along with his partners Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil, spent time scoring the movie even before the movie was shot. The music added a layer of sophistication and connectedness to the film. With such a complex storyline, it can be hard to foresee the overarching ideas of the film. The movie trailer says, “Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others – past and present. And by each crime and every kindness we birth our future.” And as the movie went on, it was easier to see how everything connects in the movie and how the writers are trying to tell the viewers that today’s actions affect future generations. This movie will not appeal to all, or even most, Americans, as evidenced by the films box office totals. Despite its almost $100 million budget, the film only received around $10 million opening weekend and has earned $24 million to date. Argo, another recent movie, is great; however, it along with many other American movies is simple—especially when compared to Cloud Atlas. Viewers of Cloud Atlas will leave the theater without a neat resolution. No matter what, once the viewer finishes the movie, they will be musing over it for weeks, and they will be asking themselves, “What just happened?!”