Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas (2012)

Timing: 2:52 (172 min)

6.892/10
7463

7.765/10
402593

7.3/10
386000

All about film

Video 13

Photo 89

Actors and characters

Release date

2012-10-26

Country

Germany, United States, China, Hong Kong, Singapore

Production

X Filme Creative Pool, Anarchos Productions, Cloud Atlas Productions, ARD Degeto, A Company, Degeto Film, Media Asia Film Production Limited, Dreams of Dragon Pictures, Ascension Pictures

Genre

Drama, Science Fiction

Budget

$102 000 000

Revenue

$130 482 868

Website

https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/cloud-atlas

Director

Tom Tykwer, Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

Actors

Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Bae Doona, Ben Whishaw, James D'Arcy, Zhou Xun, Keith David
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Tom Tykwer, Stefan Arndt, Grant Hill, Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, Aleksander Rodnyansky, Philip Lee, Uwe Schott, Wilson Qiu, Peter Lam Kin-Ngok

Operator

Frank Griebe

Composer

Johnny Klimek

Artist

Zoe Wight, Stefan Speth, Stephanie Rass

Audition

Lucinda Syson, Lora Kennedy

Editing

Alexander Berner, Claus Wehlisch
All team (463)

• The film is based on David Mitchell's novel "Cloud Atlas" (2004).
• Halle Berry broke her leg during filming.
• Louise Ray's apartment number is 451, a nod to Sonmi-451. Both characters take enormous risks in their fight against injustice.
• The Wachowskis' first film after 'Bound' (1996) that will not be adapted into a video game.
• All the actors have multiple roles in the film, spanning different times, races, and even genders. This was achieved through prosthetic makeup, elaborate costumes, and strict time constraints for actors to transition between roles. For example, Halle Berry described experiencing filming as a Jewish woman from the 1930s directed by Tom Tykwer one day, then a quick switch to a woman from an ancient tribe directed by Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski the next, and then another transition to a reporter from the 1970s, with all these image changes happening one after another without breaks.
• During filming, the directors asked the actors to perceive their roles as 'genetic mutations,' rather than a series of separate parts where changes in one affect the others.
• A character from 1973 says his flight was canceled due to an air traffic controllers' strike. The only air traffic controllers' strike in US history occurred in 1981.
• In 1973, the same yellow car with a black stripe (presumably a Chevrolet Vega) appears in two different shots.
• In 1849, in San Francisco, the household staff consists of slaves. California was never a slave state.
• At the very beginning of the film, a flyer slipped under a car's windshield wipers lies differently in various shots.
• In the scene where the characters are stuck in an elevator, a man's briefcase is positioned differently in various shots.
• In 1973, during a conversation between Louise Ray and Joe Napier, a calendar hangs on the wall. In it, September begins on a Friday, however, in 1973, September began on a Saturday.
• The film is based on David Mitchell's novel "Cloud Atlas" (2004).
• In 2005, while filming "V for Vendetta" (2006) in London, actress Natalie Portman gave Lana Wachowski a copy of the original novel, and she became very interested in it. A year later, the Wachowskis wrote the first draft of the screenplay. Tom Tykwer, a friend of Lana and Lilly Wachowski, was invited to collaborate on the project, and for the next two years they refined the script, keeping the author's, David Mitchell's, comments in mind, and simultaneously seeking international investors. Throughout these years, Portman was promised the role of "Sonmi-451", but she had to decline at the last moment due to her pregnancy.
• At one point on set, Tom Hanks began referring to Lana and Lilly Wachowski (Andy at the time of filming) as "Mom and Dad" because they worked very well together and were excellent leaders, both for the actors and the crew.