Cloud Atlas (film)

The film is based on the 2004 novel Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Filmmaker Tom Tykwer revealed in January 2009 his intent to adapt the novel and said he was working on a screenplay with the Wachowskis,[17] who optioned the novel.[18] By June 2010, Tykwer had asked actors Natalie Portman, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, James McAvoy, and Ian McKellen to star in Cloud Atlas.[19] By April 2011, the Wachowskis joined Tykwer in co-directing the film.[20] In the following May, with Hanks and Berry confirmed in their roles, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon, and Jim Broadbent also joined the cast.[21][22] Actor Hugh Grant joined the cast days before the start of filming; he was originally supposed to have only five roles, but asked the Wachowskis for a sixth one, and subsequently was also cast as Denholme Cavendish in the 2012 storyline.[23][24] According to Berry, the character of Ovid she plays in the 2144 storyline was originally meant to be a female character played by Tom Hanks, until the directors felt that Ovid was a logical part of the journey of the soul played by Berry.[25]

It was financed by the German production companies A Company, ARD Degeto Film and X Filme. In May 2011, Variety reported that it had a production budget of $140 million.[26] The filmmakers secured approximately $20 million from the German government, including €10 million ($11.8 million) from the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF),[27][28] €100,000 ($118,000) development funding[29] and €1.5 million ($1.8 million) from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, a German funder, as part of their plans to film at Studio Babelsberg later in 2011.[26] The project also received €1 million ($1.2 million) financial support from Filmstiftung NRW,[30] €750,000 ($887,000) from Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, €30 million ($35.5 million) from UE-Fonds (the biggest proportion of the budget), and €300,000 ($355,000) from FFF Bayern, another German organization.[29] The Wachowskis contributed approximately $7 million to the project out of their own finances.[31] The budget was updated to $100 million.[4]

The directors stated that due to lack of finance, the film was almost abandoned several times. However, they noted how the crew was enthusiastic and determined: "They flew—even though their agents called them and said, 'They don't have the money, the money's not closed.'" They specifically praised Tom Hanks's enthusiasm: "Warner Bros. calls and, through our agent, says they've looked at the math and decided that they don't like this deal. They're pulling all of the money away, rescinding the offer. I was shaking. I heard, 'Are you saying the movie is dead?' They were like, 'Yes, the movie is dead.'... At the end of the meeting, Tom says, 'Let's do it. I'm in. When do we start?'... Tom said this unabashed, enthusiastic 'Yes!' which put our heart back together. We walked away thinking, this movie is dead but somehow, it's alive and we're going to make it."[32] "Every single time, Tom Hanks was the first who said, 'I'm getting on the plane.' And then once he said he was getting on the plane, basically everyone said, 'Well, Tom's on the plane, we're on the plane.' And so everyone flew [to Berlin to begin the film]. It was like this giant leap of faith. From all over the globe."[31]

Some German journalists called it "the first attempt at a German blockbuster".[33]

Tykwer and the Wachowskis filmed parallel to each other using separate camera crews.[34] Although all three shot scenes together when permitted by the schedule, the Wachowskis mostly directed the 19th-century story and the two set in the future, while Tykwer directed the stories set in the 1930s, the 1970s, and 2012.[35] Tykwer said that the three directors planned every segment of the film together in pre-production, and continued to work closely together through post-production.[36] Warner Bros. Pictures representatives agreed to the film's 172-minute running time, after previously stating that it should not exceed 150 minutes.[37]

Filming began at Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany, on 16 September 2011, the base camp for the production.[38] Other German locations include the city of Düsseldorf and the Saxon Switzerland landscape,[39] furthermore sets [40] in and near Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland,[41] and the Mediterranean island of Majorca, Spain.[23] Glasgow doubled for both San Francisco and London.[38] Scenes filmed in Scotland feature the new Clackmannanshire Bridge[42] near Alloa. The "Big Island" and "Pacific Islands" stories were shot on Majorca, mostly in the World Heritage site of the Serra de Tramuntana mountains. Scenes were shot at Cala Tuent and near Formentor, amongst others.[40] The opening scene, when Adam Ewing meets Dr. Henry Goose, was filmed at Sa Calobra. Port de Sóller provided the setting for the scene when the 19th-century ship is mooring.[43]

The film was meant to be shot in chronological order; however, Berry broke her foot two days before she was supposed to start filming. Instead of replacing her, the Wachowskis and Tykwer heavily changed the initial filming schedule; Berry stated that "it involved travelling back and forth to Majorca and then Germany then we had to go back to Majorca when my foot got a little bit better and we were able to shoot some of that stuff on the mountainside when I could climb a little bit better. It was all over the place."[44] According to her, "Tom [Hanks] would play nurse to me. He really took care of me. He would bring me coffee and soup and just stay with me during breaks in shooting because it was difficult for me to move around, especially at the beginning [...] I basically had to be helped back to my chair after every take, but you learn to adapt to the situation. But with Tom at my side, I was really able to go beyond my own expectations of what I was capable of as an actress."[44]

The Cloud Atlas soundtrack received critical acclaim. Film Music Magazine critic Daniel Schweiger described the soundtrack as "a singular piece of multi-themed astonishment ... Yet instead of defining one sound for every era, Klimek, Heil and Tykwer seamlessly merge their motifs across the ages to give Cloud Atlas its rhythms, blending orchestra, pulsating electronics, choruses and a soaring salute to John Adams in an astonishing, captivating score that eventually becomes all things for all personages ..."[46] Erin Willard of ScifiMafia said that it was "cinematic, symphonic, and simply, utterly, exquisitely beautiful ... in the wrong hands the opening theme, which is picked up periodically throughout the entire soundtrack, could easily have become cloying or twee or sappy, but happily this hazard was avoided entirely."[47] Jon Broxton of Movie Music UK wrote, "Scores like Cloud Atlas, which have an important and identifiable structure that relates directly to concepts in the film, intelligent and sophisticated application of thematic elements, and no small amount of beauty, harmony and excitement in the music itself, reaffirm your faith in what film music can be when it's done right."[48] Daniel Schweiger selected the score as one of the best soundtracks of 2012, writing that "Cloud Atlas is an immense sum total of not only the human experience, but of mankind's capacity for musical self-realization itself, all as embodied in a theme for the ages."[49] The film's soundtrack was nominated for the 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, and for several awards by the International Film Music Critics Association, including Score of the Year.

A six-minute trailer, accompanied by a short introduction by the three directors describing the ideas behind the creation of the film, was released on 26 July 2012.[57] A shorter official trailer was released on 7 September 2012.[58] The six-minute trailer includes three pieces of music. The opening piano music is the main theme of the soundtrack (Prelude: The Atlas March/The Cloud Atlas Sextet) by composing trio Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, and Reinhold Heil, followed by an instrumental version of the song "Sonera" from Thomas J. Bergersen's album Illusions. The song in the last part is "Outro" from M83's album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.[59]

The film was released on 14 May 2013, on home media (Blu-ray, DVD and UV Digital Copy).[60]

The film has had polarized reactions from both critics and audiences, who debated its length and editing of the interwoven stories, but praised other aspects such as its cinematography, score, visual style, ensemble cast, and ambition. It received a lengthy standing ovation at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival, where it premiered on 9 September 2012.[61]

According to review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 66% of 283 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Its sprawling, ambitious blend of thought-provoking narrative and eye-catching visuals will prove too unwieldy for some, but the sheer size and scope of Cloud Atlas are all but impossible to ignore."[62] Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[63] According to the website, the film appeared on 14 critics' top 10 lists for 2012.[64] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[65]

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and listed the film among his best of the year: "One of the most ambitious films ever made... Even as I was watching Cloud Atlas the first time, I knew I would need to see it again. Now that I've seen it the second time, I know I'd like to see it a third time ... I think you will want to see this daring and visionary film ... I was never, ever bored by Cloud Atlas. On my second viewing, I gave up any attempt to work out the logical connections between the segments, stories and characters."[66] Conversely, Slant Magazine's Calum Marsh called it a "unique and totally unparalleled disaster" and commented "[its] badness is fundamental, an essential aspect of the concept and its execution that I suspect is impossible to remedy or rectify."[67] The Guardian stated "At 172 minutes, Cloud Atlas carries all the marks of a giant folly, and those unfamiliar with the book will be baffled" and awarded the film 2 out of 5 stars.[2] Nick Pickerton, who reviewed the film for The Village Voice said "There is a great deal of humbug about art and love in Cloud Atlas, but it is decidedly unlovable, and if you want to learn something about feeling, you're at the wrong movie."[68] English critic Mark Kermode on his first viewing called it "an extremely honourable failure, but a failure" but then on a second viewing for the release of the DVD in the UK stated "Second time around, I find it to be more engaging – still not an overall success, but containing several moments of genuine magic, and buoyed up by the exuberance of high-vaulting ambition."[69][70] Village Voice and Time Magazine both named Cloud Atlas the worst film of 2012.[13]

Variety described it as "an intense three-hour mental workout rewarded with a big emotional payoff. ...One's attention must be engaged at all times as the mosaic triggers an infinite range of potentially profound personal responses."[71] James Rocchi of MSN Movies stated "It is so full of passion and heart and empathy that it feels completely unlike any other modern film in its range either measured through scope of budget or sweep of action."[72] The Daily Beast called Cloud Atlas "one of the year's most important movies".[50] Michael Cieply of The New York Times commented on the film "You will have to decide for yourself whether it works. It's that kind of picture. ... Is this the stuff of Oscars? Who knows? Is it a force to be reckoned with in the coming months? Absolutely."[73]

Despite expectations that the film could be a success,[74] the film opened to only $9.6 million from 2,008 theaters, an average of $4,787 per theater, finishing at the U.S. box office. The debut was described as "dreadful" by Box Office Mojo.[75] The film ultimately grossed $27,.1 million in the U.S. and $103.4 million internationally for a total of $130.5 million.[76]

On 25 October 2012, after the premiere at Toronto (and despite the standing ovation it received there), Lilly Wachowski[lower-alpha 1] stated as "soon as [critics] encounter a piece of art they don't fully understand the first time going through it, they think it's the fault of the movie or the work of art. They think, 'It's a mess ... This doesn't make any sense.' And they reject it, just out of an almost knee-jerk response to some ambiguity or some gulf between what they expect they should be able to understand, and what they understand."[31][77]

In the same interview, Lana Wachowski stated people "will try to will Cloud Atlas to be rejected. They will call it messy, or complicated, or undecided whether it's trying to say something New Agey-profound or not. And we're wrestling with the same things that Dickens and Hugo and David Mitchell and Herman Melville were wrestling with. We're wrestling with those same ideas, and we're just trying to do it in a more exciting context than conventionally you are allowed to. ... We don't want to say, 'We are making this to mean this.' What we find is that the most interesting art is open to a spectrum of interpretation."[31][77]

Tom Hanks has come to heavily praise Cloud Atlas in the years that followed its release.[78] In 2013, he stated "I've seen it three times now and discovered, I swear to God, different, profound things with each viewing."[79] In a 2017 interview, he called it "a movie that altered my entire consciousness", stating "it's the only movie I've been in that I've seen more than twice."[24][80]

Halle Berry stated in an interview "It would be impossible to explain what I really feel or think about the film. It exists on so many different levels. [...] I love the totality of all the characters."[44][25] She talked about playing characters belonging to other ethnicities, and playing a male: "This is so poignant for an actor and someone like me, to be able to shed my skin... you know, to do something that I would have never been able to do. If it were not for this kind of project, I still wouldn't have done that."[25]

In a 2017 interview, Jim Broadbent called the film "great to do" and "fantastic".[81] In another interview, he expressed disappointment over the commercial failure of the film, stating "It was an independent film and needed a lot of money behind it to get it out there. Warner Bros. had the distribution rights but it wasn't one of their own, so I think it might have been [marketed] harder if it was."[82]

Hugh Grant stated in an October 2014 interview "I thought [Cloud Atlas] was amazing. [The Wachowskis] are the bravest film-makers in the world, and I think it's an amazing film... it's frustrating to me. Every time I've done something outside the genre of light comedy, the film fails to find an audience at the box office. And, sadly, Cloud Atlas never really found the audience it deserved."[83] He later stated in 2016 "the whole thing was fascinating. You know, when you work with proper people who love cinema, [the Wachowskis are] a special breed, they're not the same as people who just make movies and we happen to use cameras. [they are] people who really love cinema."[24]

Before hearing about the Wachowskis and Tykwer's project, David Mitchell believed it was impossible to adapt his book into a film: "My only thought was 'What a shame this could never be a film. It has a Russian doll structure. God knows how the book gets away with it but it does, but you can't ask a viewer of a film to begin a film six times, the sixth time being an hour and a half in. They'd all walk out.'"[85]

In October 2013, Mitchell called the film "magnificent", having been very impressed by the screenplay. He was very satisfied by the casting, especially by Hanks, Berry and Broadbent, and stated he could not even remember now how he was originally portraying the characters in his mind before the movie.[86] He also supported the changes from the novel, impressed by how the Wachowskis and Tykwer successfully disassembled the structure of the book for the needs of the movie.[84][86]

The advocacy group Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) criticized the film's use of yellowface to allow non-Asian actors to portray Asian characters in the neo-Seoul sequences.[87][88] MANAA President Guy Aoki also called the lack of blackface being used to portray black characters a double standard.[89] The directors responded that the same multi-racial actors portrayed multiple roles of various nationalities and races (not just Asian) across a 500-year story arc, showing "the continuity of souls" critical to the story.[87]

The film was pre-nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, but was not nominated in any category.[90]