what if?!

Rating: Null/10 (6 January 2014)

I watched this movie over and over again and each time I tried to understand it It became harder to grasp, just like a maze...I actually failed to understand the complicated dynamics, mechanics of the movie. In fact the movie is a compilation of three different lives (each with sub stories if I might add) occurring at parallel times all because of one impossible choice that a boy had to make. Then it hit me, maybe this movie doesn't want to be understood on a superficial, material, 3 dimensional level, so from an intrinsic approach I took a second look and here is what came to mind: The movie deals with the concept of entropy. That each choice we make results in different sets of outcomes. It becomes exponential and infinite scenarios can happen. All begins with the boy running after the train to be with his mother or stay with his father and from there on choices and outcomes stack up. This concept makes us powerless and powerful at the same. Powerless because every choice we make no matter how minor it is Will Dominate us and it will define our future life, even if we try to change or have regrets we will not be able to. Powerful because that choice we make no matter how small or minor it is, causes a butterfly effect and cataclysmic results over a period of time. Some of the choices are imposed on us due to external factors also due to the butterfly effect, rendering us prisoners of our "imposed" choices but also shows us the connectivity of this universe we live in. It's like the infinite and the tangible are intertwined...how can that be? The movie tried to reconcile these two contradicting states and tried to resolve this paradox. This can be really intricate so I guess the only way was to revert to fiction, by making the boy a clairvoyant in the future or even a time traveler for all I know, and in some scenes he's pictured as omnipotent, all in the purpose to make accessible to the viewer all these different cause and effect scenarios while what actually occurred remains a mystery, at least for me, which is irrelevant in my opinion to the topic of discussion. This movie made me feel helpless and strong at the same time. Made me sad that I could not actually engineer my own destiny and will be forever captive of the "what if" concept. but on the other hand it also made me happy because no matter how infinite the universe is along with its parameters, we have a life and should make the best out of it. Let's just hope we make the right choices to get the maximum happiness we wish for.