Mesmerising and beautiful though not sure I totally got it.

Rating: 7/10 (6 April 2013)

I really enjoyed this film but hard to pin down exactly why. I certainly didn't follow all the subtle connections in play, just the more obvious ones.
I think I just enjoyed the central theme and some of the sub-themes; the settings, high production values, style and execution. That said I thought the old folks home sequence seemed to jar against the rest of it somehow - maybe harsh of me and I am aware it was in the book.
I love what stories like this dare to aim for though I think they seldom hit it. "Tree of Life" and "The Fountain" are other examples - stunning films I love, but not sure they grasp what they're reaching for entirely - you'd really have to sit with the author/director indefinitely to find out. Likewise here. Perhaps a Q&A with the authors would answer that.
Ultimately of course it all comes down to what you believe in - if you disagree with the central idea they're playing with here, then you're going to think the story's a load of rubbish. I am currently very interested in that idea though so perhaps that's why I liked it all the more.
I guess the idea of getting set actors to play the various incarnations of people was necessary to give some continuity(though the birthmark thing suddenly makes me realise they switch bodies when reincarnated which suddenly seems to defeat the object!?!). Sometimes it works really well and sometimes terribly badly - cue weird looking record shop guy, lawyer's wife, nurse Naokes, and a few more. Oh and that's not even getting into the whole can o'worms of western actors playing Koreans. Risky play but perhaps they felt there was no other way of holding the story together. I have to say all of that just detracts from the story for me so I think they should've found another way of doing it. Colours/names maybe - I don't know.
Anyway, clearly I can't shed any light on the deeper meaning behind the film, but I can tell you that there are some moments of true visual and aural beauty in this which is what cinema is all about for me - you can keep the rest. Only other thing I'd add is I'd guess it'd be rather heavy going for anyone under the age of ~14.