Cloud Atlas

I had debated what to write about Cloud Atlas. As soon as I finished the film I wished to communicate, to anyone that would listen, the joy I felt as I watched it.

But as busy as our lives are, the few notes I had jotted in my head became buried beneath the countless other items that stack up over the course of days. I was resigned to let my review sit in the pile of “never quite make it to the light of day” stack until I happened to come across an article by AO Scott and Manholo Dargis, both film critics for the Times, called “When do we get it? Films Dispense with Storytelling Conventions.” I was aghast to find that Scott didn’t quite share the enthusiasm I felt for the film, “The problem with the movie isn’t that there’s too much going on but that the abundance is often clumsily handled, so that it feels crowded and hectic rather than rich and fascinating.”

As I often do with my reviews is to leave out what exactly the movie is about and instead try to focus on my reactions to what the film was about. Partly because I get bored with having to retell what a functioning person can figure out if they took the time to sit down and watch it. In Scott’s review of the film he does a wonderful job of explaining the details of the plot, which in the case of Cloud Atlas would take longer than most films.

Here is what I can tell you: Cloud Atlas is based on a novel written by David Mitchell and is brought to the screen by the directors of the Matrix and Run Lola Run. I have not read the book, but I have been told that what is in the movie is “5%” of what is in the book. While this probably true for almost every adaptation of a book, something that is common in both Scott’s and Roger Ebert’s reviews is that the movie tends to focus exclusively on the spiritual issues and excludes the political issues discussed in the book.

If this is not a reason for exultation after our recent election when both Republicans and Democrats alike are exhausted from any mention of politics I don’t know what is. When asked on Thanksgiving what Americans were most thankful for I’d bet that most were thankful for family, but in the back of the collective unconscious I would make a large wager that all of us were thankful we didn’t have to suffer through more election coverage. Some of this is tongue in cheek, but maybe not as much as you think. After an article I read recently, I am reminded that there might not be as big of a difference between spirituality and politics as we think, because at the center of both is values.

As I think most Americans would agree political discussion is at a dangerous intersection in history. It is at a low point. What’s this have to do with Cloud Atlas? Some of you might be asking, as am I as I get lost in this tangent. How do you transcend differing values? It isn’t through rationalization, as anyone can attest to if they have ever participated or witnessed an argument between a Democrat and a Republican. More and more in this day, facts aren’t always facts-or at least, that’s what the pre-rationalists want you to believe. The debate on climate control from non-scientists is laughable until you consider that politicians won’t touch the issue because of the political consequences. Even more harrowing is the danger it will present to future generations if we can’t agree on what is science and what is non-science. Again, what does this have to do with Cloud Atlas?

Cloud Atlas is about karma and re-incarnation throughout time. The movie revisits the theme of liberation, a theme common to the Matrix creators’ films. The characters in the film are the same souls that are traveling through the different time periods in the film. Has this been done before in film? Nothing comes to mind. And how appropriate and daring that a film like this could be done in this day and age. How conscious are we in our day-to-day lives of how our choices affect not just those we immediately deal with but perhaps our future lives?

It takes a movie like this to breakthrough to the general population. God knows there is not enough discussion of it on television, our newspapers and even our movies. I was heartened to find in the recent bestseller lists two books by two doctors that explain their near death experiences ("Proof of Heaven" and "Heaven and Back").

AO Scott’s argument against the film is this, “For a movie devoted to the celebration of freedom, “Cloud Atlas” works awfully hard to control and contain its meanings, to tell you exactly what it is about rather than allowing you to dream and wonder within its impressively imagined world. The movie insists — repeatedly and didactically — that a thread of creative, sustaining possibility winds its way through all human history, glimmering even in its darkest hours.” If you listen closely to this critique you will hear two major arguments that are difficult to attack in film criticism-didacticism and literalism. To be didactic and literal in film is the equivalent of a ABC after school special about the dangers of drugs that goes something like this: Jean was the most popular girl in high school and cheerleader captain. Jean smoked pot. Jean got pregnant. Jean had an abortion and had to live on the streets where she prostituted herself out and started using smack. Jean died. Message-don’t use drugs. And here is where I get to use some of my favorite English words-I am simply flabbergasted and dumfounded that Scott would not see the joy in this film. Yet again, one of his favorite films of 2011 was War Horse.

It is unfortunate that a film buff like Scott passes it off as a nice attempt. I am hoping Cloud Atlas gets the recognition it deserves around Oscar time to get more of an audience since it has not done well at the box office. It is the type of a movie that deserves to be seen in the theatre and to reach more of a critical mass.