Cloud Atlas (2012)

An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.

Directors:

Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski,

Writers:

David Mitchell (novel), Lana Wachowski (written for the screen by),

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 12 wins & 28 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Dr. Henry Goose / Hotel Manager / Isaac Sachs / Dermot Hoggins / Cavendish Look-a-Like Actor / Zachry
Halle Berry	...	Native Woman / Jocasta Ayrs / Luisa Rey / Indian Party Guest / Ovid / Meronym
Jim Broadbent	...	Captain Molyneux / Vyvyan Ayrs / Timothy Cavendish / Korean Musician / Prescient 2
Hugo Weaving	...	Haskell Moore / Tadeusz Kesselring / Bill Smoke / Nurse Noakes / Boardman Mephi / Old Georgie
Jim Sturgess	...	Adam Ewing / Poor Hotel Guest / Megan's Dad / Highlander / Hae-Joo Chang / Adam (Zachry's Brother-in-Law)
Doona Bae	...	Tilda / Megan's Mom / Mexican Woman / Sonmi-451 / Sonmi-351 / Sonmi Prostitute
Ben Whishaw	...	Cabin Boy / Robert Frobisher / Store Clerk / Georgette / Tribesman
Keith David	...	Kupaka / Joe Napier / An-kor Apis / Prescient
James D'Arcy	...	Young Rufus Sixsmith / Old Rufus Sixsmith / Nurse James / Archivist
Xun Zhou	...	Talbot / Yoona-939 / Rose
David Gyasi	...	Autua / Lester Rey / Duophysite
Susan Sarandon	...	Madame Horrox / Older Ursula / Yusouf Suleiman / Abbess
Hugh Grant	...	Rev. Giles Horrox / Hotel Heavy / Lloyd Hooks / Denholme Cavendish / Seer Rhee / Kona Chief
Robert Fyfe	...	Old Salty Dog / Mr. Meeks / Prescient 1
Martin Wuttke	...	Mr. Boerhaave / Guard / Leary the Healer

Storyline

Everything is connected: an 1849 diary of an ocean voyage across the Pacific; letters from a composer to his friend; a thriller about a murder at a nuclear power plant; a farce about a publisher in a nursing home; a rebellious clone in futuristic Korea; and the tale of a tribe living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, far in the future.

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Plot Keywords:

future | composer | clone | nursing home | reporter | 

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Taglines:

Everything Is Connected

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language, sexuality/nudity and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Germany USA Hong Kong Singapore

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 October 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Atlas oblaka

Filming Locations:

Dreischeibenhaus, Düsseldorf, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$102,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$9,612,247 (USA) (26 October 2012)

Gross:

$27,098,580 (USA) (18 January 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cloud Atlas Productions, X-Filme Creative Pool, Anarchos Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

172 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Jewel that Zachry (Tom Hanks) inspects at the beginning of the first post-apocalyptic sequence strongly resembles the buttons on Adam Ewing's (Jim Sturgess) jacket.

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Goofs

In the final scene showing Timothy Cavendish, in which he is writing the screenplay for the movie based on his adventures, the typewriter text shows a phrase containing the word "labored". Being English, he would spell it the English way, "laboured".

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Quotes

Timothy Cavendish: [narrating] In the darkness, I suddenly saw the light. Blood has always trumped water. If the Hogginses brutes wanted to turn this into a family affair, they'd find the Cavendish clan more than ready for the task at hand.

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Crazy Credits

When a montage is shown of all the characters the actors are playing, the font of the names changes with each time period.

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Connections

References Soylent Green (1973)

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Soundtracks

"Looking For Freedom"
Music by Jack White
Lyrics by Gary Cowtan
Performed by David Hasselhoff
© by Radiomusic - International (50% for Germany/Austria/Switzerland) / Young Music Publishing (Remaining World)
Courtesy of Universal Music Publishing Group (Germany)
Mit Freundlicher Genehmigung von Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH

User Reviews

A Powerful Spectacle

I didn't find it to be a mess at all, and it was certainly the best thing the Wachowskis have ever done. I'm not sure how the directing duties were distributed, so I'll uniformly praise Tom Tykwer as well.

I haven't read the book, so I can't make any comparisons there, but I don't often leave a film adaptation wanting to read the novel afterwards, as I did after seeing this.

Visually stunning, epic in scope, a strong score; the sort of film that you're constantly amazed was ever made and happy it was. Equal parts comedy, romance, thriller, and dystopian speculative fiction, it really is an astounding mix of disparate elements.

The biggest overall failure was definitely some of the make-up effects

• trying to turn Doona Bae into a believable red-headed Caucasian woman

was simply distracting - but the overall art & sound design was incredible.

If I could turn channels while watching TV and switch between stories and narratives as seamlessly and as deftly as the editing in Cloud Atlas, it would honestly be hard to go back to simply watching one show at a time.

Truly a marvel of multitasking on so many levels. Great stuff.