Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Absolutely the worst movie.

A Masterpiece!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

For some reason (one can only presume his ego got the better of him) Bill Forsyth actually made a big-budget art-house film here. If that isn't an error of judgement sufficient to end a career, I don't know what is.It's hard to fathom how he thought it would be possible for such a film to be released commercially. And while the producers presumably forked out for it without actually studying the screenplay - somehow persuaded that they should all go to Morocco to shoot some scenes on a beach and some dunes - it boggles the mind how the director and the producers managed to remain so far out of alignment on their target market, right through to the film's completion.In any case, Warner Bros understandably couldn't market it to mainstream cinema audiences, and in a desperate attempt to salvage something, cut it severely and added a narrative voice-over to dumb it down. If anything, the surgery only made it worse. Not only has it lost its artistic integrity, it has a slapped-on narration - presumably in imitation of a bed-time story - that crops up at meaningful moments to let us know that it's a meaningful moment. The narration adds nothing, only patronises. Worse, it is incongruously done in strident tones and a raw, modern American accident. It's hard to think of a more botched attempt to salvage a film.It's not a difficult film, but it does require some indulgence. Certainly, mainstream cinema-going viewers will only be nonplussed at having to think about what they are watching, having to tease subtleties, ambiguities, and ironies from a series of slow moving, wistful, existential stories.Forsyth's original screenplay demanded even more indulgence, trying to extract depths of meaning out of every moment. This obsession at painting emotion is what really sinks the film - it's more literary than cinematic, and little of the attempt successfully translates to the screen. Thus, when Hector in the first story sees the boats coming in, he stands there hesitantly in full view of them and there is little sense of the absolute terror the screenplay he tells us he feels - mainly he comes across as simple-minded.There is plenty, though, to appeal to the intelligent viewer who likes to reflect on life. The historical scenarios (except for the last segment) are interesting choices - it is rare to be taken to those times and places - some of them fairly unique. The moral or practical challenges presented to Hector each time are never boring. We like him for being hapless and benign, and we come to care for his welfare. This is excellent and engaging - for the thinking viewer - and is all the better for the straightforward technique, without any of the manipulative technology-driven tricks of modern Hollywood.However, it's hardly an unsung masterpiece. No consistent theme emerges. Nothing really coheres into a whole. The stories needed to be much cleverer for it all to come together into a frisson of satisfaction at the end - nothing really does come together. Two of the stories have hopeful endings (if not entirely happy), the others have sad, wistful, or ambiguous endings. If there was significance in the ending of each, it was too subtle to grasp. By the last story we (might) realise that footwear seems to be a theme, though quite what the moral is there in terms of the human condition, is obscure. Other symbols, such as the windmill and the cross, if symbols they are, don't work at all, as almost everyone will miss them completely.Worse, Hector hardly stands for the whole human race, having evolved apparently into the fashionably-sensitive liberal, the banality of which is revealed in the last story, which serves up the biggest cliché of them all: father issues, presented here with dismal earnestness as Hector bonds with his estranged children. When Hector is told that his son only needs a hug to solve everything, and his early-teen daughter gives him a little lecture on meaningful moments, I'm not sure whether my howls were of excruciation, disbelief, or disappointment.

I honestly had no idea what to expect when I first heard about this film. All I knew was that it was composed of five separate stories that spanned centuries, with Robin Williams as the link between all of them. Sounds quite ambitious, right? Yes, but the end result was underwhelming and, dare I say it, a little dull. There are, however, some major themes explored here as indicated by the title. I guess if you were to boil the film down to its essence, it is, simply put, about being human. Being more specific, it is about mankind's search and need for companionship and family, along with all of the other small things, good and bad, which enter into our lives on our journey through time. Robin Williams' character Hector, a name which he has for the entire film, can be said to literally make a journey through time. It's not explicitly stated, but since he does keep the same name throughout, you could say that his character in each subsequent story is a reincarnation of who he is in the previous one. This is all fine, but there were some spots which felt underdeveloped and worst of all, the film is practically destroyed by some of the worst voice-over narration I've ever heard. Thankfully, by the final segment the narration isn't so omnipresent. By far the worst effect of the narration is to replace character development and spoon-feed the film's themes to the audience. I did a little research online, and apparently the director, Bill Forsyth, had to cut 40 minutes and add the narration after an initial cut had a poor test screening. It's a pity that that early version isn't available to watch, because I think the film would be better in that form. The closest I think the film got was the final segment, but that one segment didn't exactly make up for all that came before it. But it did tie the film together thematically, and provide a satisfying conclusion to the larger story arc. Overall it was a satisfactory watch, but it still felt like it was missing something. Better films like this would be CLOUD ATLAS and THE FOUNTAIN, but there are still elements to appreciate in this film.

I never had the feeling that this film was intended to make the top 10 list of anyone. However, it remains one of my favorite movies. I though each story (life time) was very well done and offers a very real feel of lives of a soul through the ages. Most of my friends missed the point of this film, but the reside of the surface of life and cannot see through the veil. I have seen this movies at least five times over the years and each time I am fascinated by it. I will probably see it many more times. It is not a movie for everyone, it doesn't involve violence, and only a hint of sex, and therefore, it is tossed aside. I still see it as a gem.

I got to see this for the third time at the Glasgow Film Theatre, with Bill Forsyth speaking about it. What treat! He calls this one of the most expensive art films ever made. It was intended to be even more abstract and mysterious than it is. He had big problems with the studio/ producers wanting it to be easier to understand and more mainstream accessible - hence the slightly awkward voice-over. Too bad it is not successful enough to warrant a Director's Cut. You can never get a 2nd chance at a first impression, but I would love to see it as Bill Forsyth intended. I expect it would be even more powerful. Robin Williams is great. It really is a good film, but don't expect a laugh-a-minute or anything Hollywood. Because of the changes that the studio insisted upon it inhabits some kind of strange middle ground.