Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others.

Rating: 9/10 (17 May 2015)

I have Cloud Atlas a couple of times since it's release, and recently gave it another viewing. Cloud Atlas really is a film like no other, a sweeping epic all about people's lives are all connected throughout time. There are many talented actors/actresses in this film, all who play multiple characters across multiple story lines. Each storyline takes place in a different time, from the mid 1800s, all the way to a post apocalyptic Hawaii dated as "106 Winters After The Fall". The film explores a lot of themes of life such as love, loss, conflict, conspiracy, greed, and what it means to be truly free. All of the actors give truly excellent performances in the film, and are believable in every one of their roles.
The only storyline that might prove difficult in the viewing is the post apocalyptic storyline, in which the locals use this "valley speak" which can be a challenge to comprehend without subtitles, but other than that the stories are all very well done. While all mostly serious drama, there is one storyline which provides the film's comic relief, known as "The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish", with Jim Broadbent at it's center, and Hugo Weaving as the tyrannical (and female) Nurse Noakes, and it involves four elderly folk in a daring escape of a nursing home. My other personal favourite storyline is one which takes place in a dystopian Korean city known as "Neo Seoul", and involves a rebellion against a totalitarian government. Not to say that the other stories are any worse by any means, of course.
Simply put, without giving too much away, Cloud Atlas is an amazing film. It can make you laugh, make you cry, and make you cheer in excitement. I rate this film a solid 9/10.