Cloud Atlas

This was a loss. A bold and extremely imaginative, variable and deep book transplanted into a dynamic and agile network that does not raise questions, but answers didactically. In addition, the film helps itself with the hackneyed new age symmetries that we know intimately from The Fountain, but also from Mr. Nobody - if you do not know how to connect remote storylines, fateful love is the answer. In addition, the film adds to it the typical pathetism of all-encompassing mysticizing concepts such as Eternity, Infinity, Reincarnation, Destiny, and if the viewer does not happen to get it, one of the characters will literally repeat it 4 times. The result is a completely uninteresting and mechanical work for me, which fails even in moments that I considered "laid" - the 5th story of Sonmi in the book is a poignant picture of capitalist-fascist-totalitarian dystopia, in which rebellion is only a prefabricated part of the consumerist chain. That's terribly little. Compared to The Matrix trilogy, the virtuoso Speed Racer or Tykwer's "gender-deconstruction" Three, this is more of a Junk Atlas. (11/24/2012)

Though there is nothing revolutionary this time norupdating of filmic means of expression as in the case of The Matrix or Speed Racer, or an encounter with something infinitely fresh as in the case of Run Lola Run, that does not in any way diminish the credit due to the Wachowskis and Tykwer. Their first collaboration is one big “and yet it works” with respect to the evident belief of producers and studio representatives that the eponymous work on which it is based cannot be filmed and with respect to the wrongheaded assumption that the result would be some sort of intellectual dumka; and we can add the belief that a spectacular blockbuster cannot be shot in Europe. In the final result, the fact that, at its core, Cloud Atlas does nothing revolutionary, yet guides the viewer without difficulty through its seemingly complicated narrative, is a fascinating illustration of the narrative possibilities of the medium of film and its language. (12/16/2016)

SIX IN ONE. I didn’t want to write an overly celebratory comment right after leaving the cinema, and I decided to let the experience brew for a day, and the result? I’m still so excited! Cloud Atlas is the best film in at least a couple of years, but also a category on its own that can not be properly compared with any other. Amazing! I can’t understand how the Wachowskis and Tykwer managed to simultaneously tell six mostly conversational stories with different styles and genres (historical drama, tragic romance, journalist investigation, black comedy, dystopian sci-fi, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi) in a way that the whole lot sticks together (actually, Cloud Atlas can’t be seen in any other way than as a whole), and where everything is clear and running smoothly, and on top of that, its three hour run feels like an action ride, instead of a confusing and dry arthouse flick. Its message may not be revolutionary or original, but who cares in this case? Or do we now expect every film to come out with its own ontological system? In any case, the ending is very effective, it brings together the climax of six stores – it’s about half an hour long (six times five minutes). Half an hour of goosebumps :) … In short, the Wachowskis and Tykwer met the expectations I had set for them (which this year Scott and Nolan couldn’t do), and at the same time they were able to surprise me with how quickly the film goes (some ninety minute films feel longer than this three hour monument), and mainly because it’s a lot more viewer-friendly than I expected. The attentive viewer won’t get lost and the receptive viewer will absorb, they only need to go a little against the flow. But more viewings will of course be necessary for even better details, and I’m already looking forward to them. 100 % (11/23/2012)

It’s remarkable that the seams that connect the different stories in different time and space are so imperceptible that the film flows smoothly and the three hours are not even noticeable. Unfortunately, it results in something that has neither sufficient emotional nor cathartic effect. In other words, there is no profound experience, and by the end I felt a bit....empty. Anyway, I appreciate the courage to come up with something so non-commercial and non-subversive in this day and age, when A-film production resembles a controlled process to make money. (11/25/2012)

A cinematically bold space-time meta kitsch epic which unnecessarily shows off by misusing a minimum of actors in a maximum number of roles; which, thanks to their latex faces when characters are cast regardless of the sex or color of the actor is more reminiscent of Inspector Clouseau than anything else (the influence of Lana Wachowski?). Not even the imbalance between the separate segments (Tykwer > Wachowskis) is something to jump for joy for. And it mainly lacks catharsis. The creators say want to say along the way and so there’s nothing left at the finale. Even despite these errors in the matrix, NASA could send a dvd with this picture to the stars without any qualms, and this might help potentially intelligent life forms to get a good idea “about us". And they might choose to give us a very wide berth. (11/23/2012)