Mono no aware (物の哀れ, mono no aware, lit. "the pathos of things"), also translated as "an empathy toward things," or "a sensitivity of ephemera," is a Japanese term used to describe the awareness of mujo or the transience of things and a bittersweet sadness at their passing.
From Wikipedia.
Mono no aware figures largely in The Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, a Japanese language documentary that contemplates the Japanese fascination -- and market for -- bugs and beetles of all kinds.
Seen at the SxSW 2009 Film Festival. Recommended with a caveat: the film is largely impressionistic. It doesn't attempt to a strict linear progression; it doesn't arrive at a foregone conclusion.
But it does leave a lingering impression of the impermanence of all things; the importance of looking closely anyway, marveling at the beauty of it, and a permitting the emotion that comes when that beauty fades.
p.s. dear beetle queen filmmakers: please add your movie title to the <title> tag on your web site. it'll be better for everyone, I promise.
