Not here to slag off the film, just to say that I found this incredibly hard to follow.
I concentrated so hard trying to see what the supposed connections between the stories were (which seemed very random to me and essentially based on a similar birthmark), I think it got in the way of figuring out what the directors' overall point or theme is. I'm sure there is one, but I can't see it for the life of me.
I think one of the beautiful things about this film is that each person who watches can come away from the film with a different interpretation of the overall theme or message. Here are a few of the big ones IMO...
- the impact that one can make on the lives of others and the responsibility each of us has to attempt to make the world a better place. This is exemplified by each storyline having a direct affect on the next chronological storyline, and js encapsulated by the final line of the movie "what is an ocean but a multitude of drops?"
- the tendency of humanity to be prejudiced and draw arbitrary lines between "us" and "them." Exemplified by the line "the weak are meat the strong do eat." Each storyline has a protagonist tackling a different form or prejudice (ageism, racism, sexism, clone-ism lol...) In every storyline the protagonist takes a stand against the perceived prejudice, which ties into the first theme I pointed out.
- how connected we all are as humans. This point js emphasized by having the same actors play across gender and race. Also emphasized by the fact that each storyline is telling a very similar story, which I touched on in the second point.
- you could argue that the movie is showing the importance of media as well, since each story affects the next through various forms of media, including books, movies, letters, etc
Overall, the movie (to me) is about the importance of empathy. The movie tells 6 different stories that all serve to show how connected and similar we all are despite our perceived differences. The movie seems to propose that it is our responsibility to see past these arbitrary imaginary boundaries and simply be kind to each other. The film shows how these acts of kindness, big or small, have a huge impact on the lives of others.