in the book are reincarnations of the same souls, through time, identified by a birthmark. The New Yorker called it "virtuosic" and I regret a little not reading it before it became a film. The name itself is mystically evocative. If an atlas is a book of maps, how could one ever make a map and record the position of the clouds, which are, by their nature, ever-moving, ever-changing, seemingly alive? So the Wachowskis and Tykwer had their work cut out for them when they began working on a filmed adaptation of the novel. In fact, they all agreed that their initial meetings would be simply to see if the work could be translated into a screenplay at all. And as it turns out, it can be translated, with some brilliant and logical extra elements. They decided that the way to portray the reincarnated nature of the individuals in these six stories would be to cast the same actors, so we the audience can recognize (or in some cases of excellent make-up, not recognize) the journey and progress -- or regression -- of each soul. They also made a very wise decision not to tell the stories in chronological order. Right from the start of the film, the characters and events are introduced to us at a steady yet urgent pace. It is this pacing that propels the story forward and sweeps us along with it. We cut back and forth, zig-zagging through time and location, all the while anchored