I·CARE Theatre 2019-20: Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas

2020.01.14 | 7pm | Sir Run Run Shaw Hall |
172 mins | Category III | In English with Chinese subtitles |
Director: Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer and Andy Wachowski

Post-screening Discussion
2020.01.14｜10 pm｜Sir Run Run Shaw Hall｜
Host: Dr. Allan Au (Professional Consultant, School of Journalism and Communication)
Language: Cantonese

Based on the same name novel by David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas comprises six different yet interconnected chapters. Each of the chapters is closely linked, and the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another.

The story takes place in various places and eras - the Pacific Ocean in the 19th century; Cambridge and Edinburgh in 1936; San Francisco in 1973; London in 2012; Seoul in 2144; and the post-apocalyptic Hawaii.

The six chapters include: (1) a “lawyer” was saved by an African slave from being poisoned by a doctor on his voyage back to the U.S.; (2) a “composer” produced the 《Cloud Atlas Sextet》 after reading the diary of the “lawyer”; (3) the scientist lover of the “composer” was killed before unveiling a conspiracy; a “journalist”, who obtained the correspondences between the couple and the vinyl record of 《Cloud Atlas Sextet》, decided to disclose the truth; (4) a “publisher”, who had suffered from nursing home abuse, colluded with other elderly in an escape after reading the story of the “journalist”; the “publisher” then wrote a screenplay based on his own experience; (5) a “Korean cloned slave”, having been inspired by the story of the “publisher”, made a public broadcast of her manifesto; (6) survivors of the post-apocalyptic era led a primitive life and worshipped the “Korean cloned slave” as the God; the indigenous tribe was nearly eliminated by the cannibals which resulted in the exile of the survivors with their civilised counterparts, and they decided to continue their lives in a distant planet……