This film requires concentration, serious concentration. The links between characters aren't only of their lives intertwining, its also down to their emotions, wants and needs - the two characters who are dying both cheated on their wives and have serious regrets. The two child genius', you get to see what happened to one of them, with being washed up, sees himself as dumb and robbed of his childhood and the ability to show love and you wonder if that will happen to the current child genius. Their lives do intertwin, in more than one way. You just have to be patient and look at it with an open mind. With the scenes where you can't hear the dialogue because the music is too loud - I think this was done on purpose as you don't really need to hear what the characters are saying to understand what is going on. And with the characters singing the same song?, that song is expressing how desperate and low they feel. This is a magnificent film and its something I can watch again and again as I pick up something new from it every single time and its just simply beautiful. 