Cloud Atlas

[Thomas Alan]

I just watched Cloud Atlas, and I liked it very much because it explores the 'recurrence' theme. I had to read about the plot on Wikipedia though, in order to grasp the story more fully -- it is too complex for a single watch (at least for my brain). Also subtitles are essential for understanding the Pidgin English they speak in the future. There are some quotes which express ideas which sounded very familiar to me:

Oh yes, I know that some of us have watched it several times. At least I did :D And those who made it had way too much fun with it too. Every time I watched, I found more connections, and more, and more. Everything is connected, literally!

I found I got more out of the book than the movie, deep wisdom on nearly every page. I found the book easier to follow than the movie which jumps around more than the book. Some of the segments would make excellent movies themselves.

Sonmi 451, what a brave and far seeing lady. Her story brought me to tears a number of times. Doing what was right knowing that it could only end in her death.

Lucsia Rey a journalist who uncovered a story of corporate evil and kept on it despite being pursued by psychopathic killers. Aided at the end by Joe Napier who's conscience wouldn't let him let her go it alone.

Best book I've read in years, excellent movie as well.

Mac

 

[psychegram]

I just watched Cloud Atlas, and I liked it very much because it explores the 'recurrence' theme. I had to read about the plot on Wikipedia though, in order to grasp the story more fully -- it is too complex for a single watch (at least for my brain). Also subtitles are essential for understanding the Pidgin English they speak in the future. There are some quotes which express ideas which sounded very familiar to me:

“Truth is singular. Its 'versions' are mistruths.”

“Travel far enough, you meet yourself.”

“To be is to be perceived. And so to know thyself is only possible through the eyes of the others. The nature of our immortal lives is in the consequences of our words and deeds, that go on and are pushing themselves throughout all time. Our lives are not our own, from womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.”

I've watched the movie several times as well, partly because once wasn't enough to completely get it, partly because it's just so beautiful. It's on the very very short list of movies that brings tears to my eyes every time I see it, not because it's sad (tear-jerkers don't work so well on me), but because the sentiments expressed in the movie are so piercingly true, so deeply essential for people to understand.

 

[Approaching Infinity]

It's one of my favorites, too. The first time seeing it was information overload, but the second time was a lot more moving and easier to follow. (I read the book, too!) Such a range of characters, personalities. Courage, cowardice, conscience, naivete, egoism, sacrifice. In other words, tear-jerker moments!

 

[Gary]

I just watched Cloud Atlas, and I liked it very much because it explores the 'recurrence' theme. I had to read about the plot on Wikipedia though, in order to grasp the story more fully -- it is too complex for a single watch (at least for my brain). Also subtitles are essential for understanding the Pidgin English they speak in the future. There are some quotes which express ideas which sounded very familiar to me:

“Truth is singular. Its 'versions' are mistruths.”

“Travel far enough, you meet yourself.”

“To be is to be perceived. And so to know thyself is only possible through the eyes of the others. The nature of our immortal lives is in the consequences of our words and deeds, that go on and are pushing themselves throughout all time. Our lives are not our own, from womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.”

Thanks for sharing Data. The last quote in particular really encapsulates the essential meaning of the film for me - namely there is a consequence to our thoughts, as well as "words and deeds". We reap what we sow, or "birth our future". Everything seems inter-connected.

I read the book first, which I found very beneficial when first viewing the film. It wasn't the easiest book to read, at least initially, for me. Good tip about using the subtitles function!

As well as being an enjoyable film to watch, I think it may be particularly relevant to recent forum topics, like SRT and the mind/body connection (When the body says no).

 

[Zadius Sky]

I just watched Cloud Atlas, and I liked it very much because it explores the 'recurrence' theme. I had to read about the plot on Wikipedia though, in order to grasp the story more fully -- it is too complex for a single watch (at least for my brain). Also subtitles are essential for understanding the Pidgin English they speak in the future. There are some quotes which express ideas which sounded very familiar to me:

Oh yes, I know that some of us have watched it several times. At least I did :D And those who made it had way too much fun with it too. Every time I watched, I found more connections, and more, and more. Everything is connected, literally!

Oh, indeed! I lost count of how many times I watched this film. I kept seeing new things after each time (especially after reading new books, studies, etc.) and seeing new connections. Especially SRT and Maté's book (like Anam Cara said).

 

[Keyhole]

The first time I watched this movie I turned it off halfway through. Decided to watch it again tonight and give it my full attention. All I can say is wow, what an excellent movie. Another smashing piece by the Wachowski's! A wonderful exposition of higher truths, separate realities and some deep STO concepts. I really do wonder whether those two are part of this forum...

Here's a quote from the end of the movie
"Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."

Definitely recommend this one!

 

[SummerLite]

Hi Keyhole,

I'm glad you commented on this movie since I haven't seen this thread before. Such RAVE reviews! I saw Cloud Atlas in the theater when it first came out and haven't seen it since. It was an exceptional movie in may ways but a little hard to follow and I recall I was uncomfortable in my seat and kept shifting around. So it would be nice to watch it at home and be comfortable, really appreciate it..

I totally forgot its a Wachowski film.

I'll add this to my growing movie and book list.

 

[H-KQGE]

There's a hell of a lot in this movie & it needs several sittings to really appreciate it. Re-reading the thread made me think of of something (several things but I don't wanna get side-tracked) about curses & "recurrences." Throughout history, there's a lot of real & fictional accounts of people cursing others either sayin that they'll haunt the other person or their families, or someone else "will rise" at a later time to exact revenge. With the past being arguably more ponerized than now, & the burning raw hatred people had for whole groups, what if all of the ignorance, intolerance, cruelty & stupidity & any actual "powers" (psychic?) was transferred forward in "time" across other people & groups? There's much evidence for this of course but to see it in a movie (granted its quite much to assimilate in one go) is a big deal. But in "real life" to think that someone moving steadily toward STO who was genuinely wronged in a time when not a lot of knowledge was available to the masses, could come unstuck because those they cared for were raped or murdered or so, would feel the need to exact revenge in the future.... is scary!

It's like that idea of the Jews & "karmic purging", Nazis returning as Jews etc. And if a soul only has a few reincarnations within say, 2000 years & they return as the same gender, or race, with how every facet of the world has been infiltrated & corrupted, then what does that say about their learning? The madness is brought back in a time where it's easier to harm others & feel good about it whilst being oblivious to what brought it about. It's like a massive slide into entropy & re-infecting the environment, giving the control system a boost, especially if that person/soul was/is quite significant in terms of potential aid to others. Heck, they could inherit psychopathic genes & turn into one, for all intents & purposes.

Which also makes me think of the alternate selves thing too. Bits of ourselves not just in parallel dimensions (can't forget about insect beings!) but time-travelling bandits from all over the place & the creating of universes & forgetting actions in the previous to live "happily" in the new. Hyperdimensional conventions eh?! It's probably the best thing the Wachowskis have done & dismissed (for the most part) by the masses. Computer-generated dream worlds are fine & dandy but this movie? I'm actually gonna replay it & juxtapose it with "Jupiter Ascending" in my mind as the best esoteric sci-fi action-adventure that's likely to be made. LOL.

 

[kalibex]

'Cloud Atlas 'astonishingly different' in US and UK editions, study finds'

David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas is a popular choice for book groups around the world. But it turns out that American readers may be enjoying a rather different experience to those in Britain, after an academic uncovered “astonishing” differences between the US and UK editions of the award-winning novel.

Professor Martin Paul Eve of Birkbeck, University of London was writing a paper on Cloud Atlas, working from the UK paperback published by Sceptre, and from a Kindle edition of the novel, when he realised he was unable to find phrases in the ebook that he could distinctly remember from the paperback. He compared the US and UK editions of the book, and realised they were “quite different to one another”.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/10/cloud-atlas-astonishingly-different-in-us-and-uk-editions-study-finds

 

[Voyageur]

Re: 'Cloud Atlas 'astonishingly different' in US and UK editions, study finds'

David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas is a popular choice for book groups around the world. But it turns out that American readers may be enjoying a rather different experience to those in Britain, after an academic uncovered “astonishing” differences between the US and UK editions of the award-winning novel.

Professor Martin Paul Eve of Birkbeck, University of London was writing a paper on Cloud Atlas, working from the UK paperback published by Sceptre, and from a Kindle edition of the novel, when he realised he was unable to find phrases in the ebook that he could distinctly remember from the paperback. He compared the US and UK editions of the book, and realised they were “quite different to one another”.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/10/cloud-atlas-astonishingly-different-in-us-and-uk-editions-study-finds

Having not read the book, it is explained thus:

Mitchell himself explains the reasons for the discrepancies in an interview quoted in Eve’s paper: they occurred because the manuscript of Cloud Atlas sat unedited for around three months in the US, after an editor there left Random House. Meanwhile in the UK, Mitchell and his editor and copy editor worked on the manuscript, but the changes were not passed on to the US.

When his new US editor David Ebershoff took over, Mitchell was presented with a substantial list of changes for the US edition, and “due to my inexperience at that stage in my three-book ‘career’, it hadn’t occurred to me that having two versions of the same novel appearing on either side of the Atlantic raises thorny questions over which is definitive, so I didn’t go to the trouble of making sure that the American changes were applied to the British version (which was entering production by that point probably) and vice versa”.: