That out of the way, this is, without a doubt, my favorite anime film of all time. It has made me shed a tear at least once every time I see it (a couple times there was straight weeping), usually in a different place each time.
Why is this movie so incredible to me? In short, I think this movie in large part taught me what love is. Maybe not in the most general sense of "love", but in terms of love of fiction and love of... Well, love. If I had to nail this movie's themes down, I'd say it's a movie is about how those two things can affect us as human beings.
Every time I see this movie, I find new things to appreciate (probably because I've been really screwed up each of those times, and I don't plan on changing that any time soon). I feel like I have a bit of the relationship with this movie that the protagonist has with her love interest: Almost getting there, but never quite.
Nowadays, this movie is a special occasion for me. I pretty much have to be in the mood to laugh and cry like a baby (and also be tripping on something). If I ever get the chance to be laying on my death bed, this is the movie I want to watch. It encapsulates all of the best parts of being human for me (and that includes a lot of pain). It's not perfect, perhaps, but neither is life. There are plenty of movies that I might say are better, but there are very very few that come even close to the level of emotional attachment that I have with Millennium Actress. It's the closest I have ever come to a piece of art.
In a word? Beautiful.
