Small Details

This movies is truly a master piece. There are so many small details in vastly different times that I can't believe they actually exist. They truly reflect the unbelievable amount of dedication and enthusiasm Wachowskis, Mr. Tykwer and everyone involved in this epic. Hat off to them.

Watching it again and pause often, I discovered some hidden gems here and there, the following is some of them:

1. Same rail bend, different train. In 10:23 there is a steam train with red body paint reaching a bend. The rail extended to a beautiful valley in the back. It was 1936 and Robert Frobisher was riding it. In 52:33 the same rail and same valley are shown with a different, more modern trail with blue paint. It was 2012. This time Timothy Cavendish was in it, and he thinks, "We cross and recross our old tracks like figure skaters..."

2. The front of Vyvyan's mansion/Aurora House. It was the same front with the same stair, obviously, but there are many subtle differences: Vyvyan's mansion doesn't have paved road, metal gutter and ground lights. Instead of big window glass in Aurora house, Vyvyan's window are composed of small rectangular glasses. 6 small cone like stone decorations were sitting on the hand rail, but disappeared in 2012. Old crawling vines cover the center of the wall, where some white gutter will be in Aurora's house.

3. Same leather bag of Sixsmith. In 10:23 he had a new leather bag next to him on the long chair. Later started at 14:45 we can see him carrying the same leather bag in 1973. It was much older and showed a lot of wear.

4. The African self-free man told Ewing his name is Autua at 45:14. Later at 47:33 in the Sixsmith assassination scene we can see a small advertising leaflet branded Antua Tours. So is there a connection between Autua and Antua Tours?

5. Fast food printing. At 25:48 we can see how Papa Song's food is made. By printing out in 2 seconds! It's a new concept and it's good to see it in a sci-fi movie.

6. Future implanted cellphone. Everyone in the future, except the Fabricants, has cellphone implanted under the skin near their ears. We can even see the call coming and the skin blinks. Seer Rhee (the manager in Papa Song) seems not have the implant, but perhaps it was covered by his long hair.

7. The half book of Ewing. In his letters Robert Frobisher told Sixsmith about the book of Adam Ewing only had the first half at 41:06. He was searching all over for it. Later(01:42:46) after he shot Vyvyan the bullet casing rolled near the second half of the book. It was under his bed post all the time!

8. The ship Prophetess. At 42:25 we can see Timothy Cavendish has two old black and white picture of the ship Prophetess, which took Adam Ewing from Pacific Island to San Francisco. It was surrounded by his degrees and out of place. Maybe as the incarceration of the captain, he felt something in that picture. Also the name might mean something as the 2321 scenes do have a Prophetess played by Susan Sarandon.

9. Book of Sonmi. When the Prophetess of the village open the book "The Revelation of Sonmi 451" at 53:24, we can see the words was made of Fabricant's color hair. Later at 1:46:00 in Mouna Sol, we can see some skeletons holding a book with the same metal cover lying on the ground.

10. Volswagon falling head first. In the goof section someone said it's a factual error. When the beetle was pushed over the bridge at 1:28:40. It should fall back first. It was not true. The car was moving forward while falling. The inertial momentum should make the car falling just like the way it was depicted: head first. Later in 1:44:46 we can see the car was sinking back first. That's why she can escape from the front window.

11. Archivist Park. In the movie nobody actually said the name of the archivist. The name showed up in the recording screen at 24:53 on the left. It was "PARK". Near the end of the movie at 2:36:22 the archivist asked "And what if no one believes this truth?" Sonmi replied, "Someone already does." It implies that the archivist was convinced. The proof we can find it at 53:24 where we can see the book of Sonmi was recorded by Archivist Park.

12. Old Seoul. In 1:02:37 the old Seoul is shown on the wall of the motel. Hae-Joo explains that the old city is underwater. Later starts at 1:43:45 a intense chase scene happened right there. Inside that damway, you can see some 20-to-30-floor-high skyscrapers underwater through the glass.

13. Californian Proposition 13. As seen in the goofs section. This is an odd piece. AFAIK, everything in the movie is meticulously measure and placed. It's very hard to find one item that's out of place twice. One at 1:26:44 in the airplane Dr. Sachs took, the other at 2:11:49, though only a quick glimpse. I think probably it was there on purpose. Some regarded the Prop. 13 a big win by people against the government.

14. Natural Order. The theory of natural order was repeated 3 times. First at 06:19 Rev. Horrox(Huge Grant) talked about "Moore's Ladder of Civilization", then at 1:22:55 Hugo Weaving as a thug of Unanimous says "There is a natural order to this world, Fabricant, and the truth is, this order must be protected. At the end of the movie (2:39:35) Hugo again said, "There is a natural order to this world..."

Not so good part.
The 1973 chasing in a Spanish sweatshop is really comical and not contributing anything to the whole plot. An experienced killer killed by an overly facial-surged woman who pretended to sound Spanish and came out of nowhere? Give me a break!

Phew.... It's quite a long list and took me some time to finish. I intent to post here as some reference, not a debate. If you have some detail to contribute, please reply below.