Cloud Atlas (2012), Dir., Tom Tykwer and Lana Wachowski

Six locations. Six plot lines. Six sets of characters. Six points of time in human history.

Everything is Connected

This epic film from Warner Bros. evokes both the urban dystopia of "Blade Runner" (1982) and the post-apocalyptic cosmology of Atwood's Oryx & Crake (2003). Based on the 2004 book by David Mitchell, the film "Cloud Atlas" requires viewers to hang on to each of 172 minutes of runtime in order to engage with the worlds it presents: Pacific Islands, 1849; Cambridge/Edinburgh, 1936; San Francisco, 1973; London, 2012; Neo Seoul, 2144; and The Big Island, Hawaii, 2321. These locations are meant to cover every corner of the globe in order to blur the boundaries between nation-states, highlighting that which is essential to the human experience. 

These worlds, while superficially distinct, are fundamentally interconnected. The film demands re-watching again and again to appreciate the lengths to which the filmmakers went to make each world echo the others. For example, actors are made up to be male or female, white or Asian. Buildings and landmarks are repurposed across centuries. But even if viewers can't point out these tricks, they will experience an uncanny sense of recognition. Watching this movie allows people to feel what they may not be able to articulate:

Everything is connected.