Cloud Atlas (4½ Stars)

"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future".

The film tells six stories in parallel.

1. In 1849 Adam Ewing, a young lawyer, is crossing the Pacific Ocean on a ship after making a business deal for his father. The ship's doctor is poisoning him because he wants to rob his treasure. On the voyage Adam befriends a runaway slave, despite being initially a supporter of slavery.

2. In 1936 Robert Frobisher, a composer and conman, is helping an old composer to write a new symphony, "The Cloud Atlas Symphony". Robert discovers and reads the journal of Adam Ewing in the old composer's home.

3. In 1973 a journalist called Luisa Rey is investigating a faulty nuclear reactor. During her investigations she stumbles on letters written by Robert Frobisher.

4, In 2012 Timothy Cavendish, a bankrupt book publisher is tricked by his brother into being locked in a private mental hospital after having an affair with his wife. While there he reads a novel written by Luisa Rey based on her investigations.

5. In 2144 Sonmi-451 is one of many genetically engineered slaves. After seeing a film about Timothy Cavendish's escape from the mental hospital she joins a resistance movement and becomes the movement's teacher.

6. In the far future, 106 years after a disaster called "The Fall", most of the Earth is covered by water. Humanity is living in small tribes, some primitive, some technologically advanced. In the advanced tribes Sonmi-451 is revered as the greatest philosophical thinker; in the primitive tribes she is worshipped as a Goddess.

The film is based on a novel by David Mitchell, but the screenplay by Tom Tykwer completely restructures the story and adds new elements. The film shows a progression of souls through death and rebirth. The same actors play different characters in the six stories, sometimes good, sometimes evil, sometimes male, sometimes female. We see that soulmates sometimes find one another again, but sometimes they miss one another in a rebirth and have to wait until the next time. For instance (using the actors' names for convenience), Tom Hanks meets Halle Berry in 1973, but he doesn't reunite with her until 106 years after the Fall. Jim Sturgess marries Doona Bae in 1849, but he doesn't meet her again until 2144.

A lot of reviewers have drawn diagrams to explain the interlocking relationships in the film. That's a sign in itself how complex the film is. I would draw my own diagram, if I were more skilled at using Photoshop. Instead of that I'll include a diagram that I like here. You can click on it to look at a larger version. You can see that Jim Sturgess (the dark blue line) is relatively good in each lifetime, while Hugo Weaving (the yellow line) is always evil, but other people, such as Tom Hanks (the red line) change from good to evil.

Despite the complexity, I don't consider the film too difficult to follow. If you like you can just enjoy the action sequences. You don't have to think about the philosophical implications. The Wachowskis, best known for directing the Matrix trilogy, directed three of the six stories, but anyone familiar with Tom Tykwer's films can see that it is his guiding hand that shaped the whole film.

The film isn't only about the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. The quote at the beginning of this post, one of the teachings of Sonmi-451, states that we are connected to others in the past, which means that they are also connected to us in their future. For instance, the old composer in 1936 dreams about the genetically engineered slaves of 2144. Past and future are intertwined as if they exist in a large circle.