Cloud Atlas

[Cosmos]

I'm wondering how Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski actually work and how they get their inspiration to make their movies the way they do?
I mean they produced and wrote the script of several of the most interesting and intriguing movies I've ever watched:
The Matrix trilogy, V for Vendetta and now Cloud Atlas...

Yes some of those movies are based on books, but somehow the way they scripted and produced those movies is more then intriguing.
As though there is more behind it.

Either they have a profound knowledgebase of our inner workings, society and the system behind it or/and it flows from a higher realm to them like a sort of channeled inspiration?

I mean, come on, when you think about it those movies could as well have been produced by members of our forum and/or in depth students of Gurdjieffs work and the work on ones self...

I'm just wondering...

 

[Tesla]

I saw the movie at january and touch me in a deep mode, i don't cry because i can't to do since i was a child. Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski in each movie where them participate consciously or unconsciously show esoteric teach (this is also Gurdjieff called B influences ?) and this kind of movies like me... another director like this is Cristopher Nolan (Memento, Inception, Batman Begins)

 

[Beau]

I'm wondering how Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski actually work and how they get their inspiration to make their movies the way they do?
I mean they produced and wrote the script of several of the most interesting and intriguing movies I've ever watched:
The Matrix trilogy, V for Vendetta and now Cloud Atlas...

Some of your questions may be answered in this podcast interview they did back in October before the release of Cloud Atlas - http://www.nerdist.com/2012/10/nerdist-podcast-the-wachowskis-and-tom-tykwer/ - They typically don't do interviews so I found it gave an interesting insight into their working processes.

 

[Tristan]

Interesting movie but maybe I had other expectations. I was not too impressed. Only gives me some thoughts about soul groups/families and I ponder how past, present and future could interact

 

[Bim]

Finally saw this movie yesterday, and wow, it moved me. The ending in particular got me emotional. It's a film i'm definitely gonna have to watch again, because i feel like there's a lot more that i probably missed.

My favorite quotes, besides the dialogue above where:

" Our lives are not our own, from womb to tomb, we're bound to others, past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."

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.

"Knowledge is a mirror."

"These forces that often remake time and space, they can shape and alter who we imagine ourself to be, begin long before we are born, and continue after we perish. Our lives and our choices, like quantum trajectories, are understood moment to moment, at each point of intersection, each encounter, suggest a new potential direction."

"To know thyself is only possible through the eyes of the other."

"If I had remained invisible, the truth would have remained hidden and I couldn’t allow that."

Loved those quotes as well.

 

[williamsj]

Finally saw this movie yesterday, and wow, it moved me. The ending in particular got me emotional. It's a film i'm definitely gonna have to watch again, because i feel like there's a lot more that i probably missed.

My favorite quotes, besides the dialogue above where:

" Our lives are not our own, from womb to tomb, we're bound to others, past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."

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.

"Knowledge is a mirror."

"These forces that often remake time and space, they can shape and alter who we imagine ourself to be, begin long before we are born, and continue after we perish. Our lives and our choices, like quantum trajectories, are understood moment to moment, at each point of intersection, each encounter, suggest a new potential direction."

"To know thyself is only possible through the eyes of the other."

"If I had remained invisible, the truth would have remained hidden and I couldn’t allow that."

Loved those quotes as well.

I think you missed one of the most important ones:

"And what if no-one believes this truth?"

"Someone already does!"

I totally agree that the producers of the film presented the content in a way that the original author had not visualized.

 

[Zadius Sky]

I just watched this film as the DVD just came out last week. I never saw it in theaters.

I found myself really enjoyed it and was quite impressed. I thought the film was well-done (tying many different genres together in one film) with really great photography work.

You can see the same characters playing six different parts over time (back and forth time, that is) and gender-swappings (Hugo Weaving was fun to watch as a nurse; I didn't expect to see Halle Berry as a white woman and as an Asian man).

I've never expected Tom Hanks to play bad guys in the early incarnations, which led me to think of "Old Georgie" as being created as a result of such karma as being this figure who manipulates Zachry in a distant future.

I didn't read the book, but I did read Ghostwritten, which I thought was pretty good - it was a different way of showing the "connection" between certain people (of how each characters are all interlinked through seemingly coincidental events). It appears that many of the themes in this first book of Mitchell's continue on in Cloud Atlas, with somewhat a different perspective.

I just realized that I previously watched Bae Doona (who played Sonmi-451) in Doomsday Book (2012) and The Host (2006).

 

[dant]

Hmm... is "Cloud Atlas" similar to "Quantum Leap"
with Scott Bakula as the lead actor?

 

[Zadius Sky]

Hmm... is "Cloud Atlas" similar to "Quantum Leap"
with Scott Bakula as the lead actor?

Hm, not exactly similar, but I know what you mean by that.

I was quite a fan of Quantum Leap as I couldn't wait to watch it in the early '90s. I was a kid and loved watching that one guy playing different characters - each episode is a new character to which made it exciting to watch (of course, I was naïve at the time). But, now...after learning about the spirit possessions, I was reminded of this show because, for one, Dr. Sam Beckett (played by Bakula) was actually "inhabiting" the people by "leaping" without their having been aware of it and their "souls," so to speak, went into Sam's own body (similar to a concept of "walk-in's") and then again, he didn't have a choice in choosing who to inhibit (attributing it to "God, time, fate, or whatever"). Secondly, in each of the episodes, there was an opening narration saying that Dr. Beckett was "put there" each time to "put right what once went wrong" in a hope to return home to his own time...which suggests a violation of free will and the people that he "leaped" into didn't learned anything nor remembered anything (it was said that they ended up with a swiss-cheesed memory). He leaps into another person in order to make a life-altering intervention, and by doing so, he fixes the problems in the person's life "for the better" and at the same time, imparting "ethical lessons" for us, the audience. It's all very STS-approach.

As to Cloud Atlas, the characters being played by the same actors and actresses, which feature the same souls being reincarnated throughout the time. It gives a sense of interconnectivity. There were moments of déjà vu and synchronicity that govern the memories of these characters as they cycle through time and space with different identities, physical bodies, subjective realities and at the same time, they retain a "recognizable" essence of Being throughout the incarnations. The idea of reincarnation appears to be absent in Quantum Leap.

The big difference between Quantum Leap and Cloud Atlas in terms of same actors is the fact that Dr. Beckett has to look in the mirror to see who he was "inhabiting" - every...single...time.

On the other note - this following article pointed out that there were five movies that "paved" the way for Cloud Atlas:

_http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/5-everything-is-connected-movies-that-paved-the-way-for-cloud-atlas-20121025

1) The Three Colors trilogy
2) The Fountain (2006)
3) The Nines (2007)
4) Mr. Nobody (2009)
5) Wings of Desire (1987)

Other than The Fountain, I haven't seen the other four. Yesterday, I actually watched Cloud Atlas again and then watched The Fountain. The latter film just gave me a different impression after not having to watch it for over a year. Hugh Jackman plays a traveler in the future, who turns out to be the very same guy in the 21st century who later found a cure to aging while trying to find a cure for cancer, which led to his immortality. The part with him being a conquistador in Spain in the "past" was from the manuscript that his wife was writing (the idea of "putting yourself" in a story was literal). There wasn't a reincarnation involved, although one would thinks so. This film is primarily a story about coming to terms with your own death.

fwiw.

EDITED:

- Changed the last "inhibiting" word to "inhabiting."

 

[dant]

Wow, what a contrast between the two!
Thanks for the write up and well done, Zadius!

Now I will seek out and either read the
book or watch the movie! :)

 

[amd57432]

I watched the dvd for this last week and have been thinking about it since. I love this movie. There were so many cross connections between the stories and such nuance. Once I get the dvd for myself I am going to have to watch it several times to get it all straight.

 

[psychegram]

Finally saw this movie yesterday, and wow, it moved me. The ending in particular got me emotional. It's a film i'm definitely gonna have to watch again, because i feel like there's a lot more that i probably missed.

My favorite quotes, besides the dialogue above where:

" Our lives are not our own, from womb to tomb, we're bound to others, past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."

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.

"Knowledge is a mirror."

"These forces that often remake time and space, they can shape and alter who we imagine ourself to be, begin long before we are born, and continue after we perish. Our lives and our choices, like quantum trajectories, are understood moment to moment, at each point of intersection, each encounter, suggest a new potential direction."

"To know thyself is only possible through the eyes of the other."

"If I had remained invisible, the truth would have remained hidden and I couldn’t allow that."

Loved those quotes as well.

I think you missed one of the most important ones:

"And what if no-one believes this truth?"

"Someone already does!"

I totally agree that the producers of the film presented the content in a way that the original author had not visualized.

I've seen this movie three times now, the most recent just a couple of days ago, and every time I find myself bawling my eyes out at the end. There are very, very few movies that have had that effect on me ... and in this case, it wasn't because it was particularly sad (although, of course, it is a very sad movie), but because it was so beautiful.

In terms of favourite quotes, yes, all the ones mentioned, and also this, near the very beginning of the movie (I paraphrase from memory):

"You are here to give your version of the truth."

"Truth is singular. Versions of the truth are mistruths."

This movie really is near the top of my list of all-time favourites.

 

[Cleo]

I've seen this movie three times now, the most recent just a couple of days ago, and every time I find myself bawling my eyes out at the end. There are very, very few movies that have had that effect on me ... and in this case, it wasn't because it was particularly sad (although, of course, it is a very sad movie), but because it was so beautiful.

I had a similar reaction as well towards the end of the movie, psychegram. I was quite emotional and not many movies have me tearing up at the end. I was at the theater when I saw the movie so I admit I stifled some of the tears. Look forward to seeing the movie again!

 

[3DStudent]

It's taken almost seven months for this to go to DVD in the states! I did a quick search and this was mostly because it didn't make much money and the critics' reviews were low.

I had a similar reaction as well towards the end of the movie, psychegram. I was quite emotional and not many movies have me tearing up at the end. I was at the theater when I saw the movie so I admit I stifled some of the tears. Look forward to seeing the movie again!

I'm going to get the DVD and watch it again too. And this time alone so I can let it all out, instead of holding it in the public theater. It was quite touching for me. And I rarely have emotional moments like that.

 

[psychegram]

It's taken almost seven months for this to go to DVD in the states! I did a quick search and this was mostly because it didn't make much money and the critics' reviews were low.

I had a similar reaction as well towards the end of the movie, psychegram. I was quite emotional and not many movies have me tearing up at the end. I was at the theater when I saw the movie so I admit I stifled some of the tears. Look forward to seeing the movie again!

I'm going to get the DVD and watch it again too. And this time alone so I can let it all out, instead of holding it in the public theater. It was quite touching for me. And I rarely have emotional moments like that.

Yes, as a result of which, when I saw it in theatres (twice), it was almost empty. It seems to have been one of those movies (like 2001: A Space Odyssey) that went right over most peoples' heads, critics definitely included. This seems to happen with a lot of 'objective art' (I believe that's the term), which aims at something higher and deeper than simple entertainment. I find it hard to believe that any ensouled human could watch this film without feeling its central message resonating. But organic portals would simply be confused and frustrated by it. Of course I may be oversimplifying matters.

One thing that does concern me, regarding the Wachowski siblings ... their movies have been consistently amazing (The Matrix, V For Vendetta) ... however the recent court case involving the, apparently real, author of The Matrix, whom the Wachowskis appear to have ripped off ... could it be that there is more to their activities than meets the eye (in a negative sense, I mean)? Or was that case an effort to discredit them and their work? Does anyone know more about this?