"Everything is connected."

Rating: 5/10 (5 November 2017)

An "atlas" is a book - one containing maps, pictures, diagrams...a "cloud" is an ill-defined shape of visible water vapor.
I haven't read the book, so I cannot say that the concept of it all works well as a novel. Having seen the film, though, I must say that it is a great film - not in a traditional sense, but rather for how the movie successfully makes the best out of itself.
Various notions simply cannot be crammed together to be put into the form of a story. A "Cloud Atlas" is not much more than the interaction of humans with one another, and their correspondence and importance to upcoming and previous humans. But just like that, it's not that simple.
The film offers false hope, that once we die, a door will open; one side to represent the death, but the other to represent - well - our connection to other generations.
The fact of the matter is, the film could represent a well worthwhile experience if it were hypothetical. Unfortunately, it's not. It is somehow unpretentiously commanding, more or less, its audience.
Through all of its flaws, the film makes no mistake to convey its most main message; at times, it is made difficult to determine who all plays who. This is obviously not accidental.
"What is an ocean, but a multitude of drops?" This line signifies how our single contributions, together, have a mighty effect.
This review is a collection of various notions crammed together; no, it's not of the same quality or tier of the film - but this took 10 minutes to write - not 172 to tell.