.

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[Jay 46,241]

Interesting. I hope to see it soon.

[scallenger 665]

I saw the film around the time it came out, and definitely NEED to see it again, especially since it's been quite a few months now, to make a proper judgement again. But when I first saw it I thought it was a wonderful cinematic experience, for many reasons you stated here. Like you said, where else will you find a film with so many genres that almost pulls off all of them so well? I also thought the acting and effects were very good... and why doesn't anyone here talk about the music more? I thought it had a very good score, definitely one of the highlights from last year. Hell, after seeing the film, my boyfriend, who doesn't usually listen to many film scores, requested I burn a copy of it for him to listen to in the car because he loved it so much.

As for the stories not connecting, I do see your point now of how EVENTS do not really connect. However... and as I said, I need to see this again to be sure after being so many months ago... I think what connected the multiple stories and their characters was the characters themselves. Not coincidences and event-driven situations. The way I took it was more like... people don't really "die". Their "soul" gets reused, so to speak, in another life. They made it easier for the audience to understand by using the same actors. Some of the "souls" in this film alternate between good and bad (Tom Hanks). Some of them are always good (Halle Berry). And some are always bad (Hugo Weaving). It's almost like each life experience shapes the soul of that person either further good or further bad. Some stay in a linear path. Some don't. That it's not what we do really that matters, but really, how we feel. One reoccurring theme that was obvious (if a bit cliche) was that LOVE ultimately does conquer all, as far as maintaining the "soul" is concerned. It's everywhere in the film. In the end though, you may ask, what is the point of it all? I think that's something I actually understand the most... maybe there really ISN'T any point. That it just IS. And it goes on and on forever in the past and future until the end of time. Some people may balk at a film that doesn't really have a point. But I think their reasoning is to just give you an experience of how one could perceive life. Hell, many films are like this, honestly. But I think bigger budget films don't get away with it as much because one always expects more of a "story" or at least something "event driven" to give reason for all the big budget effects and so on.

That's what I remember getting from it, anyway.

[BloodBoal 8,711]