Cloud Atlas

[ejwrank]

Slightly baffled from Docklands.

Totally baffled from Hackney.

We have seen it onely which is surely enoughly. (This is my very bad imitation of the very bad gibberish spoken by Hanks and Berry in the past and future -- or was it just the past -- or was it just the future???)

[canadian_turtle]

I thought this was absolutely amazing! Having said that, I've read the book and as such I wasn't confused about anything that happened, which probably helped a lot.

FYI the connection between the 6 lead characters is that [spoiler]they all have the same birth mark (the comet) which supposedly represents the same soul that changes throughout time from for instance a killer to a person that sparks a revolution.[/spoiler]
The connection between the stories is that [spoiler]Zachry believes in a god named Sonmi, Sonmi watches the film about Timothy Canvendish, Canvendish reads a manuscript on the Luisa Rey story, Luisa Rey reads Frobisher's letters to Sixsmith, and Frobisher reads Ewing's diary entries from the boat.[/spoiler]
Full review to come tomorrow, am too overwhelmed at the moment O_O

[newdot]

Forgot to mention, the final chapter, the one with tom hanks & halle berry living in a wood fending off banshee-types....has received a lot of criticism for the language being so unintelligible as to make it impossible to follow,

I thought it was perfectly easy to follow, but i don't know whether the film has been changed following the early criticism (ala banes voice in TDKR)

[canadian_turtle]

Interesting. It's the same in the novel really, the language takes a few moments to get used to but then gets easy to follow. I was a bit disappointed that a lot of the amazing linguistics got lost in the film (I particularly like the language set in the time period of Sonmi-431 which didn't translate to screen very different from how we speak now, unfortunately).

[newdot]

I did not find it any more difficult than, say, A Clockwork Orange's language.

[baty]

I did love [spoiler]the pussy[/spoiler]

Cardiff showcase was pretty much full tonight. Unfortunately I was sitting next to a pair of talkers. I knew they weren't interested in the film so why didn't they just leave.
I liked the film, all the different storylines intertwining. Will be on the look out for the book.
Not a Tom Hanks fan but he wasn't too bad in this, well the accent was a bit dodgy as the Dr. but I got over it. Great visuals, scenary, CGI etc. Didn't feel like 3 hrs for me.

As far as the language used, it was difficult at first but I just let it flow over, a bit like being in work, trying to have conversations with people, you get used to it.

Going again tomorrow night with a different friend, will stay for the credits and take the a good look at them - I missed Hugh in places so, hopefully, without talkers present, I can fully concentrate on the film.
so far 8/10

[Beate]

Just had a look on imdb to make sense of who was who and noticed a huge number of German names in cast and crew, even one of the directors is German. I had no idea.

I thought there was something wrong with my ears or I just didn't understand their American accent or they were just mumbling a lot - didn't realise they had a quasi-different language!

Thanks for the explanations, c_t, it does make a little more sense now but I would probably have to watch it a second time to fully appreciate it, and I am not sure I can sit through three hours of this again. Wish I'd read the book.

[raj101]

I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like wimbledon are showing it on a crappy small screen tomorrow, screen 2.

[Beate]

So are we saying there were 6 characters with the same birthmark which meant they were reincarnations of each other? I noticed Jim Sturgess had it in the ship story, then I think Ben Whishaw as the composer, then Halle Berry in 1976 and the Korean girl. Who else?
This is the thing with this film, so much happens and you have to notice so many things to make sense of it all that it gets quite confusing if you miss them.

[The Sparrow]

Thank you for the explanation c_t It all finally falls in to place now

I wish they wouldn't bring the house lights up before the photos of the actors as each character come up. Both times I have had to ask people to move so I can see. Either wait to watch by your seat of get the hell out of my eyeline!

Unfortunately, I just can't get my ear accustomed to the dialect that is used by Hanks and Berry in the "savage" like world.