How many new movies are truly epic these days? The kind of films that literally span the world: generations, time, distance, people?
Saturday night’s packed Cloud Atlas premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival proved the nail-bitingly anticipated film — directed by Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and Lana and Andy Wachowski (The Matrix) and based on David Mitchell’s novel — to be just that: utterly, wonderfully epic. After the final credits rolled, following a dense, trippy, funny, fierce visual ride through 500 years, the crowd not only clapped and cheered, they stood up one by one and gave a 10-minute standing ovation to the movie’s cast and crew, facing them head on. It was the kind of moment that felt, in the scheme of a festival, epic.
