Cloud Atlas: A reviewish/discussionish thingy

[missroserose]

I'm not certain I can really review the movie version of Cloud Atlas properly. I loved the book so much that I've listened to/read it multiple times in the past couple of months, so I'm already fairly familiar with the various stories it presents. However, speaking as someone who did love the book (and shared in the author's doubts that it could be adapted at all, despite having watched the glorious trailer multiple times) I can say that, even with the necessary compression of each story for film, there were only a couple of places where the movie disappointed, and those were fairly minor.

I'm amused to see it hanging on to a 55 on Metacritic; honestly, that's about what I would have predicted. Personally, I will happily admit its flaws but feel it greater than the sum of its parts; however, in order to realize the latter aspect, one has to understand its individual parts, which for those not already familiar with the story would almost certainly require repeat viewings. And, of course, if you don't connect with the film on an emotional level, you're not likely to sit through its three-hour length again just to work out the details. On that level, therefore, it's something of a binary experience; you're either going to 'get' it intuitively, or you won't. Even if you don't, though, I'd argue that it's worth at least one viewing; the pacing is masterful (it truly doesn't feel like three hours aside from the inevitable bladder pressure) and combination of its ambition and cinematic mastery are both well worth appreciation.  Just don't go in expecting it to spoon-feed you a formulaic story, as I suspect a few of the critics did.

Anyway, that's the objective review/recommendation part done with, inasmuch as there is one. Now, much as I did with another rather ambitious adaptation a few years ago, it's discussion time! Following, some fairly detailed thoughts on what worked, what didn't, where the source material was better and where it manages to supersede the original work.

Points of discussion:

• Sonmi-451. This sequence probably suffers the most from the story-arc compression. Nearly all of the rich world-building and distressingly-spot-on social projections from the book had to be cut, leaving us with a fairly bland Blade Runner-knockoff sci-fi action segment. I might have been able to forgive that, but a few subtle differences in storytelling have left us with an almost entirely passive protagonist. One of the things I loved about this sequence in the book was how even though Sonmi-451 had been relegated to a passive role by her caste in society, she took every opportunity she could to grow beyond it and eventually exercise her own agency. Here, however, she's mostly reduced to watching wide-eyed as Hae-Joo saves her over and over; even her big revelation comes off as the result of manipulation by the rebel faction rather than conclusions that she's reached through her own unique experiences. While there were plenty of small quibbles I had with the adaptation, most were forgivable for the sake of format differences; this was the one really jarring note.  Fortunately, the actors playing Sonmi and Hae-Joo have enough chemistry together that the sequence isn't a total loss - if they hadn't, the entire first part of it might well have come off as downright creepy.
• The Cloud Atlas Sextet.  Possibly the biggest tease in the history of movie soundtracks.  We see Robert Frobisher working on it feverishly, we hear its themes echoed in different forms throughout the movie's six storylines, but nowhere does it seem to exist as a single inclusive concerto.  Even the soundtrack only gives us the bits and pieces heard in the movie.  I'm sure it simply wasn't written in its entirety, but I think that's a real shame, because the Debussy-inspired pieces we hear are beautiful and awe-inspiring and uplifting, and thus entirely appropriate to the movie.
• Something of a subpoint to above:  The Music History.  Classical music was going through some crazy, revolutionary ideas in the 1930s, and Frobisher's "All boundaries are conventions" bit does a wonderful job reflecting that, even if they stuck with the more traditional Impressionistic-style chords for the movie itself.  The end-credits version of the music, while a little incoherent at points, feels quite accurately of the period - lots of odd intervals and dissonances and not-quite-matching rhythmic patterns going on.  Props to David Mitchell (who also reflects this in the book) and the soundtrack's composers for understanding that "classical" music is not all Beethoven and Mozart.
• The "All Boundaries Are Conventions" Interlude.  Possibly one of my favorite cinematic sequences of all time.  It's given me chills both times I've seen the movie - such a beautiful job encapsulating several of the film's major themes, combined with that musical theme that you just know is building to something triumphant, and some stunning visuals, to boot.  I especially love the way the abrupt end of the musical cue so perfectly captures that sense of "I was dreaming and was on the cusp of this huge and potentially life-changing revelation when suddenly-- I woke up".  Even though it makes me want to growl in frustration whenever I listen to it on the soundtrack.
• Tom Hanks' Performances.  I was a little surprised when I saw Hanks cast in a film involving multiple disparate roles - he's not bad, but he's never really struck me as having the greatest dramatic range, as he always fundamentally seems to be playing Tom Hanks.  (On the other hand, given the movie's themes of repeating archetypes, perhaps that quality was seen as desirable.)  That said, he was far more convincing as Zachry than I anticipated.  I found most of his other roles to be a little cartoonish, but they worked well enough; the only bit that made me cringe a little was his "I can't explain it" speech to Luisa on the balcony.  Not sure why; it just felt far more like a line reading to me than actual acting.  Still, this was probably the most range I've ever seen from him and he definitely exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations.
• The First Luisa Rey Mystery.  This is probably the weakest link in the novel, as that version has some rather labyrinthine backroom dealing, several plot holes, and a protagonist who never quite seems to break out of her stock mold.  In the movie, they basically skipped the plot-hole bits, gave Luisa a little more personality, and tossed in Keith David to boot (massive improvement over the book's Joe Napier character). It might be a little too streamlined, given the genre we're dealing with (what's a political conspiracy without labyrinthine backroom dealings?), but I liked this version better.
• The Technical Achievements (costumes, makeup, cinematography, editing).  The Wachowskis are already known for their slightly obsessive attention to detail, and it's served them in very good stead here.  Much has already been made of the actors playing different characters, across nearly all gender and racial lines, but even the more mainstream stuff like the age makeup on Zachry and Sixsmith was absolutely some of the best I've ever seen.  Plus, this is one of the few films where I can honestly say that the editing is clever, enough to actually make me laugh at a couple of points.  Yes, six vastly different stories intercut with each other sounds impossible to keep track of, and it's certainly a challenge, but the use of narration and music and actors and editing to underscore the common themes really helps it feel far more coherent than it has any right to.  Not to mention little details - take note of Sixsmith's valise in the elevator scene, for instance, or the author's name on the MS of The First Luisa Rey Mystery.

I'm interested in other folks' thoughts, so if you've seen the movie (or read the book), please comment.  (Disagreement is allowed, I promise. :)  And if you haven't, hurry up and go see it so we can talk about it! 

Comments

[ivy]

I saw it and enjoyed it, but I haven't read the book. I left the theater intending, to, though! I don't think I've read anything by that author. I did notice the title/author of the Luisa Rey mystery book, though, and thought that was nice. I didn't notice the valise... what was notable about it?

Re: music history, I didn't have that particular bit of background -- cool! I am clearly going to have to read the book.

I enjoyed that over time, the relationships of the characters to each other varied in every incarnation. My friend intelligentrix that I saw it with varied in our interpretations. She thought it was nonlinear and disjointed, I thought it was the same story over and over again in six-group parallel. (Two unlikely allies band together to work against a corrupt systemic power.) That was an interesting divergence of viewpoint, given that it is the same movie.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Hooray, someone else on my friendslist has seen it and wants to discuss!

I reviewed the book a couple months back, actually, and I seem to remember recommending it to you. Really, I recommend it in general - it's challenging, but arguably less so than the movie, as you can flip back and forth and re-read bits that just go right by in the film.

The valise older-Sixsmith is carrying is the same one Robert Frobisher took to Edinburgh. (In the elevator scene there's a shot where it's leaning against the back wall and you can clearly see the faded "R.F." on the front.) I didn't notice it until the second viewing, either, but it was a very nice way of adding a bit of continuity to the two stories, and felt very in character. (Robert Frobisher's story is probably my favorite, although like the others it's been streamlined significantly. Still, it had even more impact for me onscreen than it did in the book - for whatever reason, the mindset of the depressive artist feels a little scarily familiar to me.)

The history of classical music is actually fairly fascinating; like most art forms, it's gone through periods that valued ordered complexity and mathematical precision (Bach, Mozart) and periods that valued organic emotion (Beethoven) and experimental bravery (Stravinsky, Copland). One of my favorite stories is that of the famous "Rite of Spring" premiere, where the strangeness of the music and accompanying ballet supposedly caused a riot amongst the audience - although given that this was very shortly before WWI, it's far more likely that the music merely reflected and therefore brought out the tensions and angers that were already simmering beneath the surface in European society of the time. To continue on an earlier theme we were discussing, great art often brings to the surface the parts of life we'd rather hide.

I'm somewhat amused by the disparity between your reaction and your friend's - it seems to rather perfectly mirror the binary experience I was talking about. A lot of people have said that it feels disjointed, and if you're trying to approach it logically, it is - there are plenty of interpretations out there, but most of them don't quite hold true for all six stories. But I really think it works on an intuitive level; the archetypes are recurring, and each character's actions affects the others, often in entirely different time periods.

[ivy]

I have just ordered the book, so it should be here within a week or so! Hooray, looking forward to it. And ahh, yeah, it makes sense that he would have kept it and treasured it. (I had a soft spot for Frobisher too. I like scamps.)

Is there anything that you would recommend reading for the history of classical music? At one point I was looking for some entertaining biographies of composers or the like, but hadn't found the right thing. I'm all ears (ha!) if you know of something of the sort.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Y'know, now that I think on it, I've acquired almost all of my knowledge about classical history from patchwork sources - my mother was an art/music major in college, so I absorbed some of it through osmosis, and did a couple of reports on composers in school, plus had a really excellent elementary-level music teacher who got me interested in modern classical music especially. So I'm drawing a blank on actual reading material. But let me ask my mother and get back to you. :)

[ivy]

Yeah, I was surprised. There's a whole genre of the sort about great scientists, interesting mathematical puzzles and the history of solving them, et cetera. I've always been baffled that I haven't been able to find the same kind of thing with regards to music -- it seems like it'd be a natural fit, and yet if anyone has written it I don't know it. I might ask my wider LJ... maybe someone has run into books of the sort!

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

My mother hasn't either - I asked her on the phone the other day if she had any suggestions, and all she could remember were her textbooks from college (which were all small-run books written by the professors). She did suggest checking out the music section of your local used bookstore - you can often get gorgeous large-format art books for a fraction of the cover price there, so it seems possible the same would be true for music books.