When I first saw the trailer for Cloud Atlas I was entranced. I needed to know more immediately so set about reading the book long before the movie was released; it instantly became my favourite. David Mitchell span a tale which enthralled me and honestly made me rethink the way I went about my whole life.
I was nervous when I saw the movie as surely it wouldn't be able to capture the level of detail and interwoven stories I'd grown to love; but it did! Having read the book first it was easy to find my feet with it and see those people come to life and of course I could follow the story just fine. I wasn't sure if the same could be said for a non-book reader though.
Last night I watched it again but with someone who hadn't read the book. He was a bit taken aback at first and overwhelmed by the sharp changes of stories but he soon settled in. Every so often I would comment to try and gauge if he was following what was happening so far but turns out I didn't need to tell him anything, he easily caught on to it all. We had a long discussion afterwards and he'd even noticed aspects I hadn't! Such as the house Frobisher worked at with Vyvyan being the same one Cavendish was later trapped in! Excellent little detail.
The film could have benefited from emphasising the karma aspect of the book a bit more I think rather than focussing only on the social change/one can make a difference theme.
I feel bad for people who didn't enjoy this movie and found it 'confusing' as they must struggle with a lot of complicated concepts day to day. Perhaps a simple action movie would be better suited for them.