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Retro SciFi of the Week…
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Not so retro, but it’s one of the best science fiction films ever made and aside from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, perhaps the very best. It includes an ensemble cast of some of the most accomplished actors in the world.
The breadth and depth of this film is enormous and the quality is completely uncompromising. It uses a nonlinear narrative (lots of flashbacks and flashforwards) with an intricate plot and the actors play multiple roles, so it may be confusing on first viewing. This film demands a lot work from the viewer – it will probably take you at least three viewings to begin to understand it. If that’s not your thing, then I’d recommend you go watch ‘Sharknado (2013)’ instead.
The primary philosophical conclusion reached by the film is absolute bunk, but that doesn’t detract from its story and entertainment value. (And the presentation of its thesis up to that point is sound.)
Spoiler: revelation about this clip...
After I posted this toot and clip, I realized that this particular clip has much more significance than I had realized.
Obviously, for those who have seen the film, the voice-over dialog by Sonmi is about her becoming "woke" about her own oppression and her potential. However, what I hadn’t previously realized is that this particular point in the film is a narrative midpoint, about which the film pivots, presenting a mirror between the first half and second half of the film. The first half introducing the six separate but similar sub-narratives, while the second half mirrors the first, but resolves those initial sub-plots in a reflective manner. The dialog itself hints at this, “Knowledge is a mirror, and for the first time in my life I was allowed to see who I was… and who I might become.” Sonmi’s character is acting a transient meta-metaphor for the film itself – realizing what the (first half of) the film is and what it will become.
This film is amazing. You can take as far as you want...
Spoiler: revelation about this clip...
**** SPOILER *****
I just watched a youtube video review of this film and the reviewer also noticed that the Sonmi character was speaking about the film itself, except they saw it in another scene. When the interrogator asks, “And what if no one believes this ‘truth’.”
Sonmi replies, “Someone already does.”
In the narrative, she is referring to the interrogator believing her truth. But the youtube reviewer saw this as also referring to the audience believing what the film is offering, with the Sonmi character again speaking for the film.
Now I wonder if there are more instances of that character being a metaphor for the film. Obviously the presentation of her philosophy is the overarching message of the film, so it makes sense. I guess I’ll have to watch it again…
