I'm gonna talk about the movie version of Cloud Atlas for a little. I firmly believe the movie is worthwhile cinema and a separate and potentially improved concept from the book. I respect the hate it gets for deviating from the book and bad make-up work. Still... here's my words https://twitter.com/thetzechun/status/1313879797681061888

Firstly, the movie failed in one major regard. All chapters are shot the same way. That was a mistake. Filters, aspect ratios and IMHO animation could have made every chapter distinct and have a recognizable tone. Keeping uniform was a giant misstep.

I'll defend the stageplay casting though which brings me to the big change from the book.

The book is about a single soul (with the birthmark) being influenced by the past writings. Every chapter is written by the same soul, read and they transport their writing to the future.

It's a beautiful analogy on how our lives can have impact, how we can send our legacy through inspiration and the power of writing whether it be the seafaring journals, love letters, 70s spy novel, comedy movie, religious text or post-apocalyptical cave drawings.

The movie is specifically about liberty and the damage that having agency and freedom stripped from you. Every actor plays the same soul through all chapters and the 70s thriller segment Actually Happens in the movie (in the book it is fiction). You can follow every character-

-arch by watching their actor. Jim Broadbent begins as a man whose job is to transport slaves, he steals Robert's compositions--- but in the 90s segment he loses his liberty and begins to change. His soul improves and becomes kinder and enlightened.

Hugo Weaving and Hugh Grant are always in commanding positions that oppress others and keep their souls from flourishing. They become literal devils and cannibals by the end with their souls tarnished with every lifetime.

Tom Hanks is in constant conflict through the movie, never having the courage to Do The Right Thing. They could have made his 90s iteration a little less cruel but the idea is that he is in turmoil until saved by Halle Berry and the enlightened future people in the last bit.

I truly believe that the Wachowski Sisters wanted to give this idea that we are all one people and our physical forms are temporary, which is a very understandable thing for transfolks to feel and they highlight it well. The movie really does a great job showing how connected-

-we all are and how our circumstances are immaterial compared to the way that we have the power to heal or hurt the souls around us and that our actions and thoughts will live on longer than our individual bodies.

I love the movie and the book on their own levels.

The movie certainly deserves more love than it gets.

Though there's no fixing the way it was shot or the way the stageplay casting come off to people.

Plus I agree with the racism allegations given who they wanted to play Sonmi-451 before casting Bae Doona.

So it's not a hill I'll die on. If folks hate the movie for reasons like that I can't really say they're wrong.

But I can see the ambition of the directors and I resonate with it.