On first viewing, at the time of its cinema release, I judged Cloud Atlas (2012, Warner, 12) to be an admirable failure, a brave bash at David Mitchell’s demonstrably unfilmable novel. 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. To attempt to summarise the plot, which takes place over a series of time zones in which actors play different characters (even different genders) would be foolhardy. More helpful, perhaps, to compare this sprawling epic to Bill Forsyth’s similarly flawedBeing Human, of which the director ruefully concluded: “Perhaps I should have just written a poem.” Arguably, that is what directors Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis have done, albeit using the infinite possibilities of the digital screen as their parchment. Definitely worth a second look.
