Wow!

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 2016)

I missed this one out when it went out, but how I wished I had seen it on the big screen. What a roller-coaster ride it was! In a time where movies are so formated, plagued with clichés and stereotypical characters and storytelling, Cloud Atlas felt like a refreshing take on what cinema is and can be.
I have read lots of negative comments, criticizing the length of the story, the issue of yellowfacing (which is really missing the point and overlooks the fact that the crossing of race and genders was done both ways) and people saying "this movie tells nothing new", but, really, I didn't get any of them. I just let the whole stuff take me on this incredible ride, and marveled at how incredibly well these stories were weaved altogether.
I have to give it to the directors, the way they edited the story made possible for each of them to have a bigger impact than they would have told on their own. It felt like the climax of one story was only possible because of the build up provided by the others, and one story would find its emotional impact in the resolution of an other, and just for that, I have to salute the directors
I can't find any fault with the acting, that was spot on from beginning to end. Seeing Tom Hanks and Hugh Grant as bad guys was delightfully refreshing, Ben Whishaw and James d'Arcy manage to provide a touching love story despite sharing very little screen time together, Halle Berry is flawless, and Doona Bae was a true revelation. What a blast it must have been for all those actors to have the chance to be four to six different characters all in one experience!
All in all, this movie doesn't require you to think too much, and I do think that people who over-analyzed it (and generally ended up trashing it) were missing the point. It vehicles simple ideas, treat them on an emotional manner, and it is up to you to elaborate on the intellectual views and concepts that yielded in your brain upon watching it.
I think the biggest problem with Cloud Atlas is that we live in a lazy society where too often audiences expect to be fed with solutions. How many times I have read "I didn't understand Cloud Atlas"? There is nothing to "understand" since all stories and their connexions are pretty simple, no big philosophical answer to be provided to you in here: it is only entertainement, and if, in the process, it makes you start to think about the world you live in, then it is enough.
It isn't about looking for a life changing message, this movie is all about being a pure expression of art. all it wants from you is to let yourself be immersed in the story and go with the flow. I also love the fact that you can rewatch it many times and pick up new details here and there and get something new out of it every time