SIX KEYS TO CLOUD ATLAS

But to further understand this story, I suggest the following six keys. This film repeatedly
makes mention of keys, usually for liberation of some sort, and I offer you six keys to
help understand this magnificent film.
First, understand the methods of Howard Zinns !" #eoples History of the $nited %tates
of "merica.! &ost history books tell us the stories of political transformations, and their
subse'uent effects on society( they are often the stories of kings, battles, and institutions.
Zinns approach is to look at the personal stories of those people who worked toward
social transformations, placing the political changes as wholly rele)ant, yet sort of in the
background. "nd, this techni'ue is the approach that guides the indi)idual threads of
!*loud "tlas.! +ow, this is not easy. #art of the reason that history books tell us about the
political changes is that those stories are far more interesting than the stories of lay
people. But, the stories we watch in this film are not only compelling and exciting, but
stylistically )ery different from each other.
%econd, understand the techni'ues of a sextet. "bo)e, I mentioned that we should look at
each of the six threads as narrators of our story. It might be easier to understand this point
by imagining the film as a concert performed by six separate musical instruments. &ore
than that, consider an orchestral work composed of six interwo)en mo)ements. ,e are
familiar with that urban legend dictating that #ink Floyds !-ark %ide of the &oon!
synchroni.es well with !The ,i.ard of /..! I expect, either as reality or as urban legend,
that !*loud "tlas! synchroni.es 0 scene by scene 0 with some three0hour piece of
classical music.
Third, !1un 2ola 1un.! ,hile this film is )ery much a ,achowski film 0 so much so that
thread 3455 seemed like a pre'uel to the &atrix saga 0 Tom Tykwers 4667 film also
seems present at some le)el. There is the o)erall 'uestion in the film of destiny8 are we
able to choose our actions, and if so, what effects do they ha)e on the rest of the world9
"ccording to the film, the greatest choice is the choice to be the person you are. This film
adds a series of censors compelling our characters into some sort of social conformity.
"lmost all of these censors are played by Hugo ,ea)ing. "t times, he is a greedy
opportunist with giant sideburns. "t times, he is a corporate hitman in a trenchcoat. "t
times, he is the -e)il in a top hat. "t times, he is a ruthless warden in the body of a
frowning nurse.
Fourth, continuing this point, the plot:s; would be far more coherent if the same :mostly
big name; actors and actresses :primarily Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, %usan %arandon, <im
Broadbent, Hugh =rant, >eith -a)id, and ,ea)ing; were not re0used for almost e)ery
thread. For much of the film, this makes for a )ery distracting process. Initially, the most
confusing is Tom Hanks. I reali.ed watching this mo)ie that Tom Hanks is our
generations <immy %tewart. ,hen he appears on the screen, we expect him to be a )ery
sympathetic protagonist. "nd, Hitchcock 0 succeeding Frank *apra as one of the great
sources of the <immy %tewart good0guy mythology 0 turns that on its head in !?ertigo.! I
hope you understand my suggestion.
But, there is a method here in ha)ing the same actors and actresses play multiple
characters. Fifth8 liberation is a liberation from all boundaries. ,ith the students I am
training in Islam, one of the first texts we fre'uently study is a short, decepti)ely simple
tenth century book called the !*reed of Imam al0Tahawi.! "nd, one of the first lessons I
teach from that book is that =od is not bound by anything, and is not bound by being not
bound by anything. In !*loud "tlas,! howe)er, the point is that true humanity is not
bound by anything, that your true self is locked in a series of cages. The first cage is your
gender. The second cage is your set of personal demons. The third cage is the warden
:that might be disguised as a belo)ed;. The fourth cage is society, with its
institutionali.ed restrictions :often on appropriate and forbidden relationships;. The fifth
cage is time, whether we speak of the per)asi)e presence of each soul through the six
centuries, or our need to watch this story in chronological order. "nd, the sixth cage of
life is life itself( characters free themsel)es from the constraints of life in each of the
ways you would imagine.
"ll of our central characters seek complete liberation from all constraints. But, the true
liberation is to be able to li)e that life that they cannot, not li)e. The true life is the life
composed of choices that they cannot, not make. Thus, the same actors and actresses
reappear because they are, essentially unbound by the constraints of gender, self,
institutions, society, time, and life. The characters, when they disco)er truth, recalling the
light outside of #latos *a)e, they are transformed, and unable to return to their former
sel)es. In watching this film, I felt that if the ,achowskis remade !The &atrix
1e)olutions! :3@@A;, they would not cast &ary "lice as the new !shell! of the /racle, but
would instead cast a man. &ore deeply, in watching this giant epic, I felt that I was
watching a )ery touching, intimate story of 2ana ,achowski, seeking to be the person
that she could not, not be, seeking to release herself from the cages of the abo)e
constraints. "s someone who has li)ed a life in almost e)ery form of exile, I found
myself sympathi.ing with her, far more than I expected.
%ixth, and this point might be the most unsatisfying for some critical )iewers8 we ha)e an
innate need to bind and connect. Bach )iewer experiences this in consciously, but
especially unconsciously trying to deri)e connection between Cuxtaposed scenes or
frames in any film, but especially this film. But, consider how deep this tendency is.
"nytime we find two consecuti)e items, we unconsciously create a link between them.
,hen you sit in your car in front of a stop light, the light switches from red to green.
These are two completely different processes. The red light shuts off, and the green light
acti)ates. But, in our mind, we understand the change as a shift from red to green. This
sense of shift is e)en more apparent in the re)erse, when the light !shifts! from green, to
yellow, to red. "nother similar illusion is the cutaneous rabbit illusion. Here, if someone
taps a finger along the length of your arm, you will feel as though mo)ement is taking
place, almost as though something is hoping on your arm. This tendency to create these
links is innate in our neurology.
%o, is there are a relationship between the scenes9 The answer is of course yes, and of
course no. ,e automatically get a sense of progression when we Cump from scene to
scene. But, we can, howe)er, detect a series of wa)es, where a cluster of scenes do
connect with each other structurally and thematically. 2iberations take place
simultaneously. Bxposures to truth take place simultaneously. Transformations take place
simultaneously. 2o)e is lost and found simultaneously. /n the flipside, perhaps there is
no relationship between the scenes8 it might be that I am sharing the themes as I ha)e
constructed them in my mind. I will not know, until I see the film again.
+ow, beyond this point, the films ultimate binding force, binding together the entire
galaxy, is true lo)e. But, anyone who knows the ,achowski films, already knows this
point. The whole !&atrix! trilogy leads us to this point. "s is true in the !&atrix! films,
the true lo)e this film seeks is unbound by any constraints. Here, lust also becomes a
constraint against lo)e. This mo)ie, howe)er, takes lo)e further. In some of the threads,
that true lo)e is a deep lo)e between two e'uals. In some of the threads, it is the lo)e of a
parent and child. In some of the threads, it is the lo)e of the rescued for a rescuer. In some
of the threads, that lo)e is loyalty to fellows or humanity.
But, the lo)e of !*loud "tlas! is not merely something rational, antiseptic and platonic.
1ather, it is compulsi)e. "gain, it is a lo)e that someone cannot, not ha)e. In 1umis
language, it is fire that ignites life. It is not mere wind( it is fire. "nd, anyone who does
not ha)e this fire, need not be ali)e. In the film, anyone who does not ha)e this fire, has
probably surrendered hisDher humanity to the abo)e0mentioned cages, waiting to be
de)oured by the conspiratorial system. That lo)e is something that reaches into the most
intimate places of your being, and cannot exist without connecting with someone else.
That lo)e becomes something produced by the two of you, yet not belonging to either of
you. It is a greater work of art than e)en a masterpiece composition.
%o, the film is ultimately asking if you ha)e e)er experienced that true boundless lo)e. I
do not think that I knew lo)e until the births of my daughters. $ntil they arri)ed, I was
essentially an ascetic of sorts, detached from the world. "nd, they arri)ed and became my
world. "nd, through them, I was exposed to lo)e in all directions. I think e)ery parent
understands this. "nd, when I follow the story of the two ,achowskis, I find myself
thinking that I am witnessing a special, true lo)e between two siblings. In another time
and place, a related pair would ha)e split. I wonder, though, how many of us find that fire
of lo)e in another person, where physical union becomes a taste in that transcendence.
"nd, what do we make of that corporate presence in the background. "t first, we watch
sla)emasters profiting off of humans. Then, in the next thread, we obser)e members of
that high society, discarding their sense of dignity. Then, in the next thread, we obser)e a
business that is capitali.ing off of nuclear disaster, followed by a culture, again of high
society discarding the dignity of its elders. Then, in the final two threads, we witness the
final con'uest of the corporate monopoly, e)entually )an'uished by the cult of a martyr.
"nd, society starts all o)er again, ignited into place by her lo)e for humanity, and, the last
couples lo)e for each other.
+ow, critics of this film will consider it to be rather pretentious. %uch would also be the
complaint against the ,achowskis &atrix trilogy. But, in those films and in this film, I
remained absorbed and entertained. "nd, in this film, I was touched down to the depths of
my being. I found myself wondering wondering wondering, if that true lo)e really does
exist between two lo)ers, with such depth as the burning intensity of my lo)e for my
daughters.