Full of cold and feeling miserable, I wasn't sure if I was ready to brave the three hour mountain that is the Wachowski and Tykwer's sci-fi epic, Cloud Atlas. However, within three minutes I became as one overdosed with Lemsip as the stuffy nose and raspy chest melted away and I became immersed in this truly wonderful cinematic adventure. The film opens with a wizened and scar-ridden Tom Hanks seemingly relating a rather bizarre history lesson. Tattoo-ridden and beneath a starry sky we soon realize this film is going to be something different. Adapted from David Mitchell's (no, not the one from Peep Show) best-selling novel, the film deals with six different narratives spanning hundreds of years, all sharing some loose connection. Think Pulp Fiction on acid. What this gives us is a movie of such scope that you emerge three hours later feeling as if you've been 'chasing the dragon'; your mind awash with the questions the film poses. Why are we here? Is there some higher power? Do we ever really cease to exist? Perhaps the most interesting way in which the film deals with these conundrums is the fact that the majority of the cast play multiple roles, some portraying as many as six. We are given Tom Hanks as a villainous ship's doctor, a tribal goat herd, and a psychotic Irish thug, to name but three! Jim Broadbent, forever sublime, gives a wondrous turn as a dodgy publisher and is perhaps the most amusing and entertaining of the different narratives. Special kudos I believe though has to go the wonderful Ben Whishaw, perhaps our best young actor today, and Doona Bae, a South Korean actress whom I hope we will be seeing much more of. Involved in the most technologically stunning of the narratives, Bae's performance as the artificially created 'fabricant', Sonmi-451 is deeply haunting and draws shocking parallels with events not to distant in our own history. It is also worth noting how good it is to see Hugh Grant back on the big screen, stepping out of his comfort zone in remarkable style, proving yes Mr. Grant, you can act!
Other than the visionary direction from Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, as well as the wonderful ensemble work from the cast, the third guest at this mind-bending party has to be the music. Taking the film's title from the composition of Ben Whishaw's main character, Cloud Atlas, refers to the Cloud Atlas Sextet, a piece of music that binds many of the characters throughout the various narratives. Composed by Tykwer himself, along with his longtime collaborators Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek, the score is deeply rousing and putting it simply, beautiful. One can see how in the multiple narratives the various characters are so transfixed by its power and beauty. The score ultimately serves as another method of signalling what the directors want to achieve; to demonstrate, as Susan Sarandon's prophet-like Abbess states, 'Our lives our not our own. We are bound to others, past and present.'
I leave you with the extended trailer, and implore you, for the sake of your own soul, to see Cloud Atlas.
If we think back over the last years in the history of the Oscars, in regards to the coveted Best Picture category, they were veritable 'dead certs'. Think The Hurt Locker vs. Avatar, The King's Speech vs. The Social Network, or even the one horse race that was the glory of The Artist last year. In a year where Steven Spielberg's lavish drama Lincoln (to be reviewed in a later entry) leads the running with twelve nominations, there is still no clear outright contender to walk away with the statuette later this evening. And this is no bad thing. I for one will be rooting for several of this year's contenders (granted, some more than others) but I simply cannot call it. This very conundrum clearly highlights what an exciting year it has been for film, when any one of the nine candidates could be seen walking away with the award. However, if I was kidnapped, stripped naked and flaggelated with a wet towel into submission, Argo would be the two syllables leaping off my tongue. Following its success in the Best Picture category at the Baftas, it has the feel of a film the Academy goes for; the plucky underdog with that little bite. Also one must wonder whether Academy voters will be feeling guilty over the much maligned snub of its director, the seemingly unstoppable Ben Affleck. On a night when the statuette for Best Director is surely to go to Spielberg will Affleck be celebrating after all? I suspect so.
The acting categories are also somewhat ambivalent, Supporting Actor and Best Actress, being the two categories dividing the critics. Tommy Lee Jones, Christoph Waltz, Alan Arkin and Philip Seymour Hoffman are all going for their second little gold man, with Robert De Niro hoping to bag his third for Silver Lining's Playbook. This solidifies this year's Supporting Actor category as the toughest to call. Given any other year, each of these boys could walk away with the award. This year though, it's Waltz (Bafta win two weeks ago) or Tommy Lee Jones. Both amazing performances in Django Unchained and Lincoln respectively, I will go to sleep a happy bunny if either of these get rewarded for what are masterclasses in the art of acting. Supporting Actress, we all know is going to Anne Hathaway for Les Mis and I'll run naked through the streets of Liverpool if Mr. Day-Lewis does not make Oscar history tonight, being set to become the only actor to win three Oscars in the Best Actor category. Best Actress could also be on the road to Oscar History with Emmanuelle Riva, the oldest ever nominee in the category (celebrating her 86th birthday the day of the ceremony!) in contest with the youngest ever actress in the category. Nine year old Quvenzhané Wallis I suspect won't beat Riva for her devastatingly sublime performance in Amour, but is yet another example of the diversity being celebrated at tonight's ceremony.
One thing is for certain. Tonight's Oscars won't be dominated by one film and I will be gripped with a tiny bit more excitement tonight when, contrary to previous years, it's anyone's race. I think today would be a good day to name a racehorse, however. If you wanted a sure win then no other name will do - Arise Mr. President...
