Shawshank won no Oscars either.

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2013)

I had been waiting since I read the book last year for this movie to be released here in February. The 6 minute trailer looked great. I saw it at the cinema and it took me a while to know how I felt about the adaption. It is not the Russian doll of the novel. I believe that structure would not have worked. It is the interspersing of 6 story lines one after the other with sometimes what seems a confusing switch from one to the other. (But each is linear).The first 40 minutes can be a bit hard to follow, and the language in the post modernistic story on Hawaii really is hard to follow (better on the Blue Ray with subtitles for old ears!) . But the final effect is a movie I will watch over and over again. I would call it a masterpiece. I am not going to detail anything about the individual stories, just summarize. It is, I think, about karma, reincarnation, love, slavery, oppression, bias, hope, friendship, loyalty and overturning the "Natural order". Sometimes funny, often dramatic, sad, beautiful and poignant. I can't make you watch it, but strongly think anyone with humanity will enjoy this. The Cloud Atlas Sextet is sublime. BTW: it should have, but never won any academy awards. As some of the best most treasured films, like Shawshank never did either. Don't use the awards system, or negative reviews to put you off. Put aside the 3 hours required and watch, think, and be amazed. Also watch the end credits. The actors put their all into this. And a big thank you to Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer and Andy Wachowski for directing a fantastic film. Let us hope the DVD and Blue Ray sales make up for the loss at the box office.