MovieChat Forums > Cloud Atlas (2012) Discussion > Liked the film but bad editing

Liked the film but bad editing

posted 8 years ago by tchevyz71
12 replies | jump to latest

I watched this a 2nd time last night, not sure I even got it the first time entirely.

I personally can't follow this many stories and remember all the subtleties in a film like this. Maybe that's my own ordeal. However:

Why not just start at the beginning of the story lines, like the slave story, then move onto the 2nd story after it's complete? It'd be much easier to see how the lives tie together and then you can revert back to the old stories if needed for reminders towards the end to tie them all together.

I guess what I'm saying is that I liked the film, didn't really appreciate it the first time, but now that I get the premise, it was still poorly done.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] HarveyManfredSinJohn 8 years ago

I totally disagree.

This is a superb film that wouldn't be half as brilliant as it is if it was edited any other way.

Like Magnolia, it is a masterclass in editing. The scenes are very intricately edited not in terms of linear storytelling but in terms of mood. If it had been edited in a more linear manner we'd have ended up with a more straightforward but much less affecting and visceral movie.

Films at their best should challenge and evoke feelings in their audiences. Anyone can tell an A to B story; but can they affect and move people through their art? That's the real challenge and this unorthodox form of editing contributed to doing so by taking the audience on an emotional journey.

[–] NotASpeckOfCereal 8 years ago

In fact, the film had to be edited this way to tell all of the stories from the book, but keep it under 3 hours. If was told in a linear fashion, it would be 4 separate films, each about 2 hours long, with no interconnectedness.

Brevity is the soul of wit.

[–] borchers34 8 years ago

I have heard many complaints about this film but the editing was never one of them.

You are a crazy person.

No f@cking sh`t lady does it sound like I'm ordering a pizza!

[–] tchevyz71 8 years ago

I disagree. I see on average 100 films in theatres per year. I don't really value your opinion on the matter without some credentials of viewing film. This of course doesn't factor in movies I see in addition to the theatre viewings that I watch in my own theatre.

[–] borchers34 8 years ago

I see on average 100 films in theatres per year.

You are better than me because you watch 90 awful movies a year? Okay. Enjoy wasting your money.

Go watch Cloud Atlas again and watch each transition between stories/scenes. Everything connects and intertwines. You can saw CA is boring, you can say it is pretentious but to say the editing is bad is beyond comprehension. You teach create an editing film class solely using this movie.

No f@cking sh`t lady does it sound like I'm ordering a pizza!

[–] tchevyz71 8 years ago

So you wouldn't say the editing in this film is unique at all?

[–] borchers34 8 years ago

Unique as in how? If you mean how each shot that transitions between stories is almost identical to previous one, yes it is unique. A rewatching of this film you'll see how each leading shot mirrors the following and vice versa.

IDK. I love it.

No f@cking sh`t lady does it sound like I'm ordering a pizza!

[–] Iron_Giant 8 years ago

The novel is built that way. It begins in the past and tells half of each story, moving forward one at a time. It then finishes each story, working in reverse order. The design is symmetrical.

Please don't call someone a _____tard.

[–] syafiqjabar 8 years ago

The story is non-linear on purpose. It's supposed to show how these various stories connect to each other in many ways. As such the editing for Cloud Atlas should really be nominated for awards, since it's pretty amazing how it can maintain a narrative flow and not be boring or confusing.

[–] Farshnoshket 8 years ago

Exactly! If you didn't understand the simple premise of this film (everything is connected), if you didn't see how one scene blended into the next (of different times), then you didn't understand the film and need to see it over and over until it all settles in.

For example, a scene near the beginning with Halle coming out of a party, the conversation with the rocker in the 60's section of the film...and then the next scene where we see Tom Hanks nasty character at a party in the '2000, present time' section of the film. There are many things that connect those 2 scenes. Many things. Words, actions, attitudes. It's up to the viewer to figure out just how well those 2 scenes seam together.

Things like the 2 scenes mentioned above happen continually throughout the film and that's why each scene is important to the next and that's why it's in that order.

If that's all too much for someone to comprehend then you simply need to school some more and come back sometime when you're up to speed.

Yes, Cloud Atlas is an advanced course in film.

[–] bensfiction 8 years ago

Rules of the Game is an advanced course in film. Cloud Atlas is MILES away from any course in film.