chewing gum and sheep

I am sitting here sniffing...with tears making streams on my cheeks.
I just finished watching Everything Is Illuminated.
It started out a bit crass. I wondered if I should keep viewing it. It wasn't really capturing my attention. I kept on, as you would with a book that didn't grab you in the first few pages; the equivalent of pushing on for a few chapters.
It started to pick up and suddenly I was there. Thinking of the Peipon family driving those Ukrainian roads and seeing the same sights. And then the little shepard boy appeared and had me howling with laughter. I don't do out loud laughter during movies!
And then...Grandpa had my heart tied into his emotional turmoil. And then...and then....I was humbled and drawn into my head full of stories I've read, heard and been told for years.
I'm confused. By the red.
But I'm delighted by the familiar faces that appear in America. I live in that world all the time! Do I know that person? Haven't I seen them somewere before? Are they local or do I know them from a different state, a lifetime ago?
And then.....I'm warmed by the acceptance in the very end of the family's choice of embracing the"other"........
Cryptic? Yep... But it will all be clear when you watch this. And you'd be silly not to. Because it has, I think, blown every other movie off my favorites list and moved straight to the top....I think....
Just remember to be patient. It doesn't start out as it means to go. If you quit, you will be missing a truly remarkable story.