Books2Movies Club discussion

Not many people believed that Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell might be filmable, at least not so successfully, even the author himself. It took four years for the directors Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis to overcome all the financial and other developmental obstacles. Same as with the novel, some critics applauded their work, some rebuked. According to IMDB, it was nominated for one Golden Globe and won another 7 awards and 14 nominations so far, which is by any means respectable result. In any case, here we have an official synopsis of the film story:

From acclaimed filmmakers Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, and Andy Wachowski, the powerful and inspiring epic drama Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave dramatically through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future.
(source: Cloud Atlas Official Site)

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This is thread for the film and thoughts about it -- if you wish to discuss the book itself, please go to the book thread.

For those curious, but only if you have already seen the film (of course), take a look at Empire's Behind The Scenes :)

I strongly recommend reading the book before you see the film. I proceeded in that order, and found that I had a much better grasp of the film then did others who had not read the book first. For one thing, the sequencing of the six stories in the film differs substantially from the sequencing in the book, and the film approach is much harder to follow, in my opinion.

All-in-all, though I enjoyed the film, I thought the book was markedly better. The soundtrack for the film, however, is really pretty good.

Emory - I agree!
The film is really hard to follow and - maybe it's just me, but - I was really confused a bunch of times.
Excellent idea, but to me it was just way too long and a bit tedious...

I have to admit that I would be perfectly satisfied by reading the book and not viewing the film. I really did like the book.

I read both the book which I finished the end of May and I just watched the movie last weekend. There were some definite changes in the plot of the movie. I am glad I read the book first because the movie actually pulled together the connections that you needed to make while reading. I found both versions really complimented each other even with the story changes. I have to say making this movie must have been an epic undertaking.

I watched the movie first and it was my favorite of the year. Especially the Neo Seoul arc. Magical. I understand it was extremely polarising but whatever, I loved it.

I didn't think Tom Hanks' reincarnations made sense in the movie. It made sense that Isaac Sachs could become Zachry because both struggled with cowardice and overcame it. It made sense that Dr. Henry Goose would become the thug author because they were both murderers, but it doesn't make sense that all of those were one soul.

But Sonmi was awesome!