Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) (1988)

[monkee]

One of the best anti-war movie I've ever watched.

Plot summary: Setsuko and Seita are brother and sister living in wartime Japan. After their mother is killed in an air raid they find a temporary home with relatives. Having quarreled with their aunt they leave the city and make their home in an abandoned shelter. While their father's destiny who was a soldier is unknown the two must depend on each other to somehow keep a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. When everything is in short supply, they gradually succumb to hunger and their only entertainment is the light of the fireflies.

Review

Movies about soldiers, generals, and national leaders don't really get at why war is so awful. In even the most militarized societies, there's still a massive civilian population of people that try to go on living their lives in much the same way, only with a million times the stress placed on them. Most confused are children, who aren't yet equipped to understand just why the world has changed so much.

Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies (from a novel by Akiyuki Nosaka) tells the story of a brother and sister trying to survive during the American firebombing of Japan during World War II. The boy, Seita, is about twelve; his sister, Setsuko, is about five. Their father is in the Navy; they lose their mother early on. An aunt takes them in, but soon grows to resent them, and they strike out on their own.

[...]

I have, up until this point, been somewhat careful to avoid mentioning that Grave of the Fireflies is animated. In the United States, animation is often treated more as a genre than a medium, and the idea that a movie can be both animated and a serious drama is greeted with a bit of skepticism. Why not simply do it as live action, one may ask. That Takahata is an animator should be the only explanation necessary.

This film does show him to be one of the masters of the medium. The character designs are flawless, from the rounded Setsuko to the gangly (but serious) Setia. The depictions of war's horrors balances is never graphic enough to come across as exploitative, but never understated, either. He knows when detail adds power and when it is distracting. He steadfastly resists the temptation to cram more onto the screen when stillness is more effective.

Grave of the Fireflies is a quiet movie about the collision between how a child looks at the world and an environment which makes no allowances for a child's innocence. Among those who have seen it, it is often described as one of the best films about war every made, and deservedly so.

http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=7404&reviewer=371

Highly recommended for the anime geek among us. ;)

 

[Ben]

Very powerful emotionally like most studio Ghibli films, it's just that in this one the emotions are almost entirely negative....

 

[Divide by Zero]

This movie was recommended by a good friend I met in europe and I thought it a great anti-war movie too.

What's the problem with the emotions being negative in this movie? I saw it yesterday and it definitely was a tear jerker.

There were happy parts, seeing the brother and sister keep their spirits up as the whole world around them is being torn up. Of course happy thinking cannot undo reality, food is scarce, especially for those who choose not to participate in the war.

 

[knowledge_of_self]

I watched this movie several years a go in my teens. And it really effected me when I watched it. I cried for several days. And to this day, I haven't really had the heart to watch it again.

I do recommend it- because it was very powerful. But I don't recommend it for kids. Most studio Ghibli cartoons are made for children, but this one was really sad so I'd have to say it's not really for kids, but more young adults/adults.

Nevertheless, it was a very powerful cartoon and had me thinking for a while. Two thumbs up for sure

 

[Tigersoap]

I watched it once years ago as well and it was terribly sad

It's a mature cartoon for sure.

 

[Ben]

What's the problem with the emotions being negative in this movie? I saw it yesterday and it definitely was a tear jerker.

There were happy parts, seeing the brother and sister keep their spirits up as the whole world around them is being torn up. Of course happy thinking cannot undo reality, food is scarce, especially for those who choose not to participate in the war.

Not a problem, just that it a pretty relentlessly sad film and it stands out among the other Ghibli films for this.

 

[Divide by Zero]

Not a problem, just that it a pretty relentlessly sad film and it stands out among the other Ghibli films for this.

I misread your comment as a criticism of the movie, being used to friends, etc who are suckers for happy endings. I'm a sucker for the sad endings.

 

[Odysseus]

As most of the Ghibli Studios movies, this is a gem and arguably the most sad and depressing one of the bunch. :(
When I ran across those candy tin boxes from the movie in some asia shop it broke my heart.

 

[Gertrudes]

I watched a few years ago and I also found it heart breaking, I cried for quite a while after it had finished.
I agree with what has been said here, this is not a movie for children.

I can't remember where I got this information, but I recall reading or having been told that the movie is based on a true story.
Looking futher on wikipedia, here it is:

This is the first film produced by Shinchosha, who hired Studio Ghibli to do the animation production work. It is an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka, intended as a personal apology to the author's own sister.

 

[Oxajil]

Just watched this today. Very touching story and I think it's a well representation of what happens in the real world...

 

[skycsil]

It got me depressed for weeks, never had the heart to watch it again :/

 

[American Germanic Fox]

Sadist movie ever in my opinion! But what would be sadder is what the Chinese were going through at the time... Me thinks Japan should discuss it's war crimes rather than focus on American war crimes against it. But the movie is good despite the underlying hypocrisy of Japan.... Besides America never discussed it's war crimes nor Russia nor any other country involved except Germany!

The Japanese do some of the best stuff I have ever seen in art though!

 

[Faith]

Sadist movie ever in my opinion! But what would be sadder is what the Chinese were going through at the time... Me thinks Japan should discuss it's war crimes rather than focus on American war crimes against it. But the movie is good despite the underlying hypocrisy of Japan.... Besides America never discussed it's war crimes nor Russia nor any other country involved except Germany!

The Japanese do some of the best stuff I have ever seen in art though!

It's not sadistic at all to express your compassion and understanding for two brave children faced with the horrors of war by telling their story in an honest and well balanced way, on the contrary! Their story is happy at times but also very sad. They meet compassionate characters but also ignorant and selfish ones. This movie is not about the specific political circumstances and state of affairs leading to war. It's about the consequences that people like you and me have to suffer, whenever there is war, plain and simple. In a matter of speaking you can apply this story to any war. The director Isao Takahata did a fine job portraying the movie characters so naturally. It's amazing to see that this is even possible with cartoon characters.

In this case it's the best choice making an anti-war film in that "innocent" ghibli-style since it emphasizes the contrast between the world of adults and the world of children, between detached political leadership operating from the distance, making the "hard choices", judging over life and death and the average people at close range suffering the consequences. I also think it's not a movie for your children, but for the hidden child inside of you.

EDIT: modified the sentence "...the contrast between the world of adults and..."

 

[Psalehesost]

Sadist movie ever in my opinion! But what would be sadder is what the Chinese were going through at the time... Me thinks Japan should discuss it's war crimes rather than focus on American war crimes against it. But the movie is good despite the underlying hypocrisy of Japan.... Besides America never discussed it's war crimes nor Russia nor any other country involved except Germany!

The Japanese do some of the best stuff I have ever seen in art though!

It's not sadistic at all [...]

I think he made a typo and meant "saddest".

 

[Faith]

hmm... that possibility didn't occur to me, but I guess you are right, because in the next sentence it reads "what would be sadder...". Also the fact that this is an old post and no one responded to it suggests you are right. Sorry. I've overlooked these indications. I could have realized it myself even though I'm not a native speaker.

I think I know what also encouraged my reading error besides the typo. The word "sadist" instantaneously triggered a memory about my sister. Watching this movie has left her cold, which was very irritating to me. She said: "This movie is just a tearjerker!" But what can be expected of a mother who lets her children watch movies like "SAW"? Of course the little ones must close their eyes when something bad happens, you know? Don't bother. Any critic or sound advice will deflect of her. That really is sad. But it's even sadder that her children have to deal with it.