Cloud Atlas

Can you read what's at the bottom of this image?  "Everything is connected."

Keep that in mind.

I am probably writing this blog too soon after having viewed this conundrum of a film, as we took a sabbatical from trick-or-treaters this year and went to see this instead.  MUCH more value-added.

I shall start with the math: 

     3 directors 

+ 15 major actors

+ each actor playing 5 or 6 roles

+ a plot spanning 6 historical eras

+ a film running 2 hours and 40 minutes (with not one moment of dragging).

= one head-scratching, soul-searching, mesmerizing tour de force that secondarily pays homage to the art of acting and whose protagonist seems to be the phenomenal make-up department.  

Based on an award-winning novel by David Mitchell (which I will promptly add to my Nook), it is most briefly synopsized this way:  "An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future."

Said of the novel:  "Mitchell combines flat-out adventure, a Nabokovian lore of puzzles, a keen eye for character, and a taste for mind-bending philosophical and scientific speculation....The result is brilliantly original fiction that reveals how disparate people connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky."

This film leaves this film-goer with SOOOO much to think about.  I like that.  I am also likely to go see it again; there is just so much to absorb.  Directing and acting were superb. 

David, this film has you written all over it.  Go see it so we can discuss.  

To everyone else reading this:  Please weigh in with your comments if you've seen any of the films we post.  We'd love to hear more voices!