I can appreciate that this movie was a grand, large-scale project, but simply put, I just couldn't get past the yellowface. I know there was a theme of souls transcending race and gender, but this excerpt from the linked article sums it up for me:
In one plotline concerning black slaves, each slave was played by a black actor.
"You have to ask yourself: Would the directors have used blackface on a white actor to play Gyasi’s role?” asked Aoki [founding president of Media Action Network for Asian Americans], referring to David Gyasi, the freed slave in the film. I don’t think so: That would have outraged African American viewers. But badly done yellowface is still OK."
And yes, the yellowface was badly done. When I saw the first yellowfaced actor on screen, I expressed my indignation. In response, Ken assured me that the man was not meant to be Asian; surely he was some kind of conglomerate alien race / human / machine hybrid. Uh, actually, it turned out he was meant to be Korean.
Anyway, I liked the idea of a single soul being reincarnated through time and space, but my eyes weren't keen enough to spot the fleeting birthmark in each of the story lines. After the movie, I had to resort to an Internet search to find out who had the birthmark.
Also, I honestly just kept getting confused. We watched the movie after the kids went to bed, not knowing how long it was, and it went on well past midnight. Maybe I just wasn't fully awake enough to follow the many angles being presented. This first viewing, though, didn't pique my interest enough to encourage a second viewing.
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