Each Crime and Every Kindness.

“Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.” - David Mitchell, The Cloud Atlas

What a work of art the movie Cloud Atlas is. I watched it recently with my husband, in our annual lead-up-to-the-Oscars film cram. Since I am usually content to read a good book and fall off to sleep after the kids have gone to bed, staying up and engaged in this almost three hour film was a surprise. 

The movie is directed by the same sibling duo that directed The Matrix, in conjunction with the director who is credited with the movie Run Lola Run. There are many echoes of the Matrix (not so much Run Lola Run) in parts of this one. 

Though it hasn't received much acclaim or recognition in American film circles or on recent award shows, I am waiting to see how it does in international markets. A multi-layered and apparently, according to recent reviews, polarizing film; it sweeps through many story lines in different time periods. For that reason it does take focus and attention to begin connecting the dots that bring this movie to its conclusion. But at the end you are left with a feeling that your mind has expanded a bit closer to its edges!

A movie that stays with you days after you see it, both for its visual aspects as well as the idea on which the stories turn (see above quote), it will leave you contemplating your place in this world and wondering about the age old idea that each person in our life is there for a reason. Have you seen the movie? What was your reaction?