The Return Of Doona Bae

Doona Bae in Cloud Atlas

So I’m watching the movie Cloud Atlas, and I’m at the storyline set in the futuristic Neo-Korea of 2144 where a genetically cloned servant girl named Sonmi-451 is being interrogated about her socially conscious “awakening” which took her from her former docile and hive-minded state, into her period of “social awakening” which took her to human-like status where she eventually became a rebel figure.

As it plays on, the plot began to remind me of that touching and bittersweet Japanese movie Air Doll (Kuki Ningyo), the story about the innocent and wide-eyed blow-up doll that came to life and her interactions with humanity, not only did the STORY seem similar, in fact, the actress PLAYING Sonmi 451 looked a HELLA lot like the actress playing the Air Doll,too! By the time the movie was about halfway over, I was convinced: this HAD to be the same girl- she was too similar and PERFECT in the role!

Doona Bae in Air Doll

Well, when the movie ended (after an epic 2 hour and 45 minute odyssey) and the credits ran, I saw the name “Doona Bae” go scrolling by, and realized that, yep, that’s exactly who it was! So amazing, those Watchowski Brothers probably saw Air Doll back in the day, and when they read the story of Sonmi451, the girl who left the world of compliant, blind servitude and went out into the real world to experience what it meant to be alive, they knew EXACTLY who to go to!

Gotta say that not only was she totally awesome in the role, her storyline actually ended up being my favorite of all the arcs IN Cloud Atlas! So mesmerizing as the former servant girl who gets elevated to martyr status, but that isn’t all- you ALSO get to see her Doona Bae (under heavy prosthetics makeup) portraying a chatty Mexican woman, and you ain’t seen nothing til you’ve seen her as a red-haired white woman! Amazing!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com