Americans simply aren't used to having major portions of the plot be so dependent upon mysticism and symbolism. Watching a bird fly away after the death of a major character is unfortunately what most Americans would call "anti-climactic"; but here it is the entire resolution of the climax.
As far as the lip-synching goes (answering the previous post), I have to say that it was so much better than almost anything else out there, that I really enjoyed it--it wasn't jarring to me at all (okay, after the first 30 seconds :).