This post is based off of the article Beyond the Matrix by Aleksandar Hemon and published in The New Yorker.
How does one go about adapting a book to a screenplay when its own author deemed it “unfilmable” due to its complications? Lana and Andy Wachowski (known for writing and directing the “Matrix” trilogy) have the answers. The siblings, along with co-director and friend Tom Tykwar, took author David Mitchell’s 2004 best-selling novel Cloud Atlas and adapted it for the big screen. This was no easy task to take on, for Cloud Atlas follows six separate plot lines spanning centuries, includes a post-apocalyptic version of English which has mutated into a whole new language, and contains very specific leitmotifs. All of these aspects make translating the text from word to image very difficult, for not many 2 hour films take on such a hefty load.
While the filmmakers appear to have accomplished this daunting task—the movie opened on October 26th—they admit that it was a struggle. Their main challenge included dealing with the novel’s structure, in which chapters move forward in chronological order, but then reverse that order halfway through the book. They solved this problem by splitting up the scenes of the book and color coding them, and then putting these scenes in various orders as trial runs and see what the narration would look like. Needless to say this took up a large amount of time and energy for all involved. They finally decided “to convey the idea of eternal recurrence, which was so central to the novel, by having the same actors appear in multiple story lines.” Upon hearing this, author Mitchell admitted that their film adaptation might be better than his own book, and agreed to the project.
Another problem was the issue of funding. The Wachowskis could not convince any major film companies that their movie would make a profit. However, after meeting with Tom Hanks and convincing him to be a part of their film (in which he plays six different characters), Warner Brothers felt differently and agreed to fund the project. After convincing Tom Hanks, other major actors agreed to become a part of the project, including Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving, and Doona Ba.
It was these and other creative innovations by Lana and Andy Wachowski that made the film Cloud Atlas possible, and box office returns next week will tell whether this literary adaptation is a success. For more information about this particular book to film adaptation read the article at http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/09/10/120910fa_fact_hemon?currentPage=1 and for more information about the film watch the trailer at Cloud Atlas – Official® Trailer [HD]