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A drop in the ocean

19 May ’13 Leave a Comment Written by Juliet Bennett

“My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?” ― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

On the journey from Sydney to Paris I watched Cloud Atlas. Actually I watched it twice. And I still don’t get it.

cloudatlasbanner9172012

The film is six stories from six times that weave in and out of one another, with actors and actresses playing characters within the different times.

It is terribly confusing, but a clear picture emerges. A distinct pattern that repeats throughout the human story – a tension between  oppression and resistance, of cowardliness and courage, of the contribution of individuals in causing violence and pursuing justice.

The movie resonated deeply with me. I share the struggle of some of the characters, and I suppose of Mitchell, in  “trying to understand why we keep making the same mistakes over and over…”

My take home message (or take on holiday message, as it was) is captured in this quote:

“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.”

We may be only a drop in the ocean, but the ocean is maintained and changed by each and every drop.

 

Furthermore:

This might be a useful map (from wikipedia) for when I watch it for a third time:

Actor “The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing” (1849) “Letters from Zedelghem” (1936) “Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery” (1973) “The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish” (2012) “An Orison of Sonmi~451” (2144) “Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After” (2321)
Tom Hanks
Dr. Henry Goose
Hotel Manager
Isaac Sachs
Dermot Hoggins
Cavendish Look-a-like Actor
Zachry
Halle Berry
Native Woman
Jocasta Ayrs
Luisa Rey
Indian Party Guest
Ovid
Meronym
Jim Broadbent
Captain Molyneux
Vyvyan Ayrs
N/A
Timothy Cavendish
Korean Musician
Prescient 2
Hugo Weaving
Haskell Moore
Tadeusz Kesselring
Bill Smoke
Nurse Noakes
Boardman Mephi
Old Georgie
Jim Sturgess
Adam Ewing
Poor Hotel Guest
Megan’s Dad
Highlander
Hae-Joo Chang
Adam / Zachry Brother-in-Law
Doona Bae
Tilda Ewing
N/A
Megan’s Mom, Mexican Woman
N/A
Sonmi~451, Sonmi~351, Sonmi Prostitute
N/A
Ben Whishaw
Cabin Boy
Robert Frobisher
Store Clerk
Georgette
N/A
Tribesman
James D’Arcy
N/A
Young Rufus Sixsmith
Old Rufus Sixsmith
Nurse James
Archivist
N/A
Zhou Xun
N/A N/A
Talbot / Hotel Manager
N/A
Yoona~939
Rose
Keith David
Kupaka
N/A
Joe Napier
N/A
An-kor Apis
Prescient
David Gyasi
Autua
N/A
Lester Rey
N/A N/A
Duophysite
Susan Sarandon
Madame Horrox
N/A N/A
Older Ursula
Yosouf Suleiman
Abbess
Hugh Grant
Rev. Giles Horrox
Hotel Heavy
Lloyd Hooks
Denholme Cavendish
Seer Rhee
Kona Chief

_1351547825

Picture comes from this site, with further breakdown of characters: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Cloud-Atlas-Infographic-Explains-Karmic-Journeys-Movie-Characters-33823.html

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As a "non-indigenous" Australian living on what was once the land of the Cadigal and Wangal Wangal communities, I wish to acknowledge the inter-generational responsibility that I feel toward the colonial past. As a beneficiary of "White Australia", to the Eora people of Sydney, I request your forgiveness. I stand in solidarity with your rightful demands to self determination and active participation in governmental decisions, and I hope I may learn from your eco-spiritual connection. May we, as Tom Trevorrow of the Ngarrindjeri puts it, learn to 'respect, care and share' the gifts that our planet offers us.

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