50 New Cloud Atlas Photos Confirms The Cast Wears A Lot Of Silly Looking Make-Up

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by Kevin Jagernauth
October 12, 2012 2:26 PM
9 Comments

"Cloud Atlas" features many things -- narratives, characters, special effects...but it also has a lot of makeup. A lot. With the extended principal cast -- Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, and Bae Doona -- playing multiple roles in a tale that spans centuries, the trick was making them look similar, yet also distinct in each case. And for the most part it works, and you don't really notice it. But time to time, it is distracting. (We're looking at you, Thug Hanks).

Anyway, with the movie now a couple of weeks away from landing in theaters, Warner Bros. has dropped a virtual atlas load (we're so clever) of new images that take you into every nook and cranny of the movie without any regard for spoilers or saving some surprises for the cinema. We do see their point, though. It's probably hard to sell a movie that's nearly three hours long whose central conceit is We're All Connected, so they're likely hoping that at least one of these images will resonate with someone. Period drama? That looks cool. Futuristic sci-fi? No way! Thug Hanks? Can we get a spin-off?

"Cloud Atlas" spins on normal screens and in IMAX on October 26th. Take a deep breath, and then click below.

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More: Cloud Atlas, The Wachowskis, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry

9 Comments

| Reply
Am I the only one.... | November 22, 2012 4:40 PMReply

Am I the only one who doesn't think the make-up looks that silly? I think the movie sounds absolutely brilliant, no matter the many rants about it...
rodie | October 14, 2012 1:19 AMReply

This is going to be so so terrible.
K-Rage | October 12, 2012 4:51 PMReply

Don't downplay blatant yellowface as a gimmick. The practice of non-Asian/white actors being made up to appear "Asian" has got a long racist history and shouldn't be excused, I don't care how important or unimportant the film is. And Halle Berry being made up to play a white woman is not comparable to Jim Sturgess and Hugo Weaving in racial drag. Come on.
FMM | November 22, 2012 4:39 PM

Omg.... How is this racist? Yeah, white people play Chinese, but as Alan pointed out, it's to represent the fact that we're not different and to highlight the fact that we're all the same in a way - we're all humans. No matter our skin color.
Now, are you always so focused on skin color? I'd recommend for you to go put your rage somewhere else, like Twilight, where there's 1 black guy and he's evil, or every single damn horror movie where the not-caucasian is killed off right away. Or perhaps you should just focus on actual real-life incidents, instead of the ones in movies.
Alan | October 12, 2012 11:51 PM

" And Halle Berry being made up to play a white woman is not comparable to Jim Sturgess and Hugo Weaving in racial drag."

Why? The purpose of the device is to represent the soul - the idea that people aren't bound by their physical appearance and can return in other forms. Hence: black actors playing white characters, white actors playing Japanese characters. That is the purpose of the device. If they were to present the concept into a comic form - laughing at the characters based on their physicality etc. - then you might have a point. But you can simply divorce the concept from its context: it is very, very different for a white actor to play an Asian character on vaudeville - in which the intent is to reinforce stereotypes about the traits of the Chinese or Japanese - and the way it is used in this film, linking many characters together, showing that we are the same, not different. There are wars, poverty and actual racism in the world: how about stop trying to make this an issue and do something to help others on a practical level.
Ray H | October 12, 2012 4:16 PMReply

It's more of a gimmick than racism. Several of the images are of Halle Berry in white face (though she looks more like Madonna).
K-Rage | October 12, 2012 3:38 PMReply

So y'all are just going to ignore the racist yellowface fuckery that's going on in this movie? Oh. Okay.
lee | October 20, 2012 3:00 PM

you are a rageing racist.
Kay | October 13, 2012 11:08 AM

K-rage, go and watch the movie first, you shallow freak!