The Wachowski siblings have always been known as reclusive directors unenthusiastic or outright unwilling to speak about their work or entertain the press circus that surrounds Hollywood films. You can already tell Cloud Atlas is a very different kind of production as the duo, along with their c0-director Tom Tykwer, have broken their silence to directly speak to audiences about how their project came to be, and what it’s all about. The trio introduces the extended trailer for Cloud Atlas in the video linked below, which explains that the film has not been traditionally financed, and will be very difficult for them to sell. I don’t know that it helps that they’re all more than a little bit goofy in their presentation, but the passion definitely comes across. It’s also fun to see that Lana looks at home in her new identity, and that Andy sounds a whole lot like Seth Rogen.
Last night the 5 minute trailer for the film leaked out around the time an official photo widget hit the web. I posted the latter and mentioned the former, but fortunately we can now enjoy this fabulous trailer in HD from Apple. It’s a stunning collection of images that are most certainly selling a daring, one-of-a-kind movie, which is exactly what these directors set out to do.
What is remarkable is that despite the length, it’s still clear the trailer is only giving the smallest peek at the film. I’m not versed in the intricacies of the book (and the three were very specific about getting the author’s blessing), but Russ over at /Film has a very nice breakdown of what’s going on, if you’re not into the whole ambiguity thing.