おくりびと ~Departures

As probably expected, many tears have been shed. And I'm really really impressed, because watching the movie has made me realize the distinction between crying over something sad and crying over something beautiful.

[Possible spoiler]
The view that death is not a 'bad' thing is certainly not new, but the perspective I've had of death has been about letting go. This movie introduced me to a wonderful other aspect of it, that is, being grateful towards the departing ones for what their living years have brought us. I wonder if this has always been the point of view of the Japanese?

Despite the humorous moments, there is a unique sort of quiet atmosphere that I think I felt in a lot of Japanese production of this genre ('human drama'?) -- not that I've watched a lot of them... This one is the serene type of silence; the last memorable one I've watched, 誰も知らない ~Nobody Knows, is the minimalist / undercurrent-disturbing sort; and one I recently glimpsed but didn't think I wanted to stomach the rest of, 2LDK, is the thriller-psychological / downright-disturbing sort. =P

Hunting for the soundtrack now, because of one certain scene that has no particular happening but whose mere music broke me down. Joe Hisaishi, indeed...