Grave of the Fireflies (Collector's Series)

 

 

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grave of the fireflies is the based on the story written by Nosaka Akiyuki. He is 70 year old man and he is still on TV. He is known for his funny personality and many people would be surprised that this sad story was by him. He won the prestigious prize for "American Hijiki." Grave of the fireflies is set in Osaka area during WWII; you can tell by their accent.

I think this story indicates how kids couldnt live as being a kid. Kids were demanded to grow fast in order to support war. The brother and sister were the children who just lived as they were and this story tells us how children couldn't live like them back then; this is very significant in how the story ends.

i was very young when this was first appeared. But the second time I was very much frustrated by the brother because the healthy young man didn't help society and all he does was playing with his sister. After I watched the movie, I thought this might indicate that kids couldn't live as they wanted to be. The boy lived as he wanted, he enjoyed being a kid.

Due to the pollusion by industorial factories and so on in Japan, the number of fireflies are decreasing. The song "the light of fireflies" are sang at graduations; this sort of connotates goodbye song, i think. These two facts came up to my mind when I heard the title. Someone might be able to connect these arguments better.

Although I didn't like the movie that much, but anime is a good way to approach generation who don't know war.

"Grave of the Fireflies" ("Hotaru no haka") is one of the most powerful anti-war films I have ever seen, which means that it has no competition when it comes to emotional impact in terms of animated films. The death of Bambi's mother was a traumatic shock, but nothing like the sense of despair and grief that overwhelms you by the end of this film. The film begins with the spirit of a young boy showing us his death in a train station, after which we follow the fireflies into the past to see his story. At the beginning of the original movie of "Brian's Song" we were told: "All true stories end in death. This is a true story." So is "Grave of the Fireflies" because I have no problem granting the legitimacy of "truth" to fiction.

In the last months of World War II an American fire bomb raid destroys the port city of Kobe, where almost all of the buildings are made of wood. Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi/J. Robert Spencer) is a 14-year old boy who survives along with his 4-year old sister Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi/Rhoda Chrosite). They were separated from their mother during the raid, which spares them from her fate. Their father is a navy officer serving in the Imperial Navy at sea, and the two kids go off to live with an aunt. With both his school and the war factory where we worked gone, Seita does not know what to do. So he tries to take care of his sister. But his aunt constantly berates him and after trading his mother's kimonos for race, Seita decides to take Setsuko and live in a couple of caves dug for bomb shelters. For a while their live remains idyllic, but then there is nothing left to trade for food, and no food to be bought for money. Seita has to steal food to survive and Setsuko is getting weaker and weaker from hunger.

This film is based on the semi-autobiographical novel written by Akiyuki Nosaka, which won the Naoli Prize, the Japanese equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. Like Seita, he survived the fire bombing with a younger sister, who died in his care. Obviously the story stems from a sense of guilt and I have to think the story was confessional rather than cathartic for Nosaka. Writer-director Isao Takahata turns this tragedy into what can only be described as a poetic experience, achieving a cinematic lyricism that could never have been accomplished in a live-action film (e.g., the way the fireflies have a counterpoint in the pieces of ash that drift on the wind after the fire bombings). There is a quietness to this film, a sense of contemplation that emphasizes important and small moments alike, and makes scenes linger as the heart-rending story plays out to its fatal conclusion. The voice work by both of the young girls playing Setsuko is extremely effective; I have a slight preference for that done by Ayano Shiriashi simply because it is much more naturalistic than what you usually find in anime depicting children.

"Graves of the Fireflies" is an unforgettable film, one which will reduce most viewers to tears if not outright sobbing. Watching it is a painful experience, but then a film depicting the horrors of war and showing what happens to young children is supposed to have that effect. Viewing it a second time makes the experience even more intense (you probably will not catch what Setsuko's last words are the first time through, but be prepared for what it will do to you when you watch the film again). You will never, ever forget this film and you should be very, very careful about showing it to younger children, because it will change forever what they think about animated films. It will do that for you as well.

Ever since I became a writer somewhere around 1996 or 1997, I've had an intense fascination and desire to create things that touch readers, whether through saddness, fear, or happiness, because I think that when a piece, either written or on screen, touches you emotionally, it leaves a lasting impact on you that can lead to a better understanding of the world around you, and even possibly yourself as well. I think that as a creator, this is the greatest achievement one can reach, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for anyone who accomplishes this very thing which I so eagerly wish to achieve.

"Grave of the Fireflies" is the sad tale, based on the semi-autographical book "Hotaru no Haka" by NOSAKA Akiyuki, which tells of the author's experiences during the aftermath of World War II, in which he lost his little sister to malnutrition, for which he blamed himself.

In "Grave of the Fireflies," 14 year old Seita and his 4 year old sister Setsuko lose their mother after the Allied forces bomb their village. Their father is in the Navy and at sea, and hasn't been heard from in a long while. Without going through the entire plot, suffice it to say that the story is a moving and frightening look back at the lives of two young children who should never have to face such horrors at their tender ages. The tone and mood of this heartwrenching piece is set from the very first scene, when Seita utters the fateful words "September 21st, 1945. That's the day that I died."

Before watching "Grave of the Fireflies" I'd heard that it'd been referred to by many, like movie reviewer Roger Ebert, as one of the greatest war films made, and after watching it, I have to agree. Only a person with the emotional depth of a gnat or the heart of block of wood could watch this film and not feel the emotional power of it. It's the kind of story that lingers in your consciousness long after, and forces you to see the true face of war, the REAL consequences and victims of the violence we seem all too quick to inflict upon each other these days. And the most incredible thing about this movie is its subtleness, its complete lack of political propaganda or any attempt to try to blantantly force a moralistic ideal down the viewers throat. Director Isao Takahata shows supreme trust in the story itself, choosing to use the beautifully illustrated film to portray the tale in all its moving glory.

In Japan this movie was shown in schools as an educational piece. I don't know if this has been done in America, but I think that it should. We need to learn to understand the entire spectrum of war, and on an even more basic level, we just need to teach our children the lessons of empathy and compassion so that when they find themselves in positions in which their decisions impact others, they'll take care to consider the consequences before making those decisions. I also think that every world leader should be forced to sit down and watch this film over and over until its message is ingrained into the nooks and crannies of their brains, because it often seems that compassion and empathy are qualities sadly lacking these days.

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5.0 out of 5 stars I'm speechless.....
I just watched this movie for the first time tonight and I honestly think it's one of the best films (and definitely the saddest) I have ever seen. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Solomon R

5.0 out of 5 stars Animated, but not for children
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Animation, Drama, War, 89 minutes
Directed by Isao Takahata
Starring the voices of Rhoda Chrosite and J. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Steven Aldersley

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as effective as I'd expected.
After reading some glowing reviews here and hearing of the roots the story has in truth, I was interested. Now, having watched the film I find it somewhat fell short. Read more

Published 21 months ago by Jamieren

2.0 out of 5 stars NOT a feel good movie
a very hard movie.

Not a lot is happening and although the feeling of the subject passe well, there isn't anything that would make me want to watch it again. Read more

Published on April 10 2010 by P. Thibault

4.0 out of 5 stars Gravy
It was kind of ghoulish. You get into one family drama, caused by war. It's personal, sensitive, hard and too real to be cool. Read more

Published on Nov 7 2009 by I. Sawyer

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely gripping - you will never forget this
Watch this, and don't think for a second that this is not a true story. I lived in this region for 10 years and know far too well that this tragic, heart-wrenching story was... Read more

Published on Dec 24 2005 by Jerome Pleasance

5.0 out of 5 stars It made me cry and watched it over and over again
I loved this movie it made me cry so many times that i watched it over and over agian to beleive that something like that did happen but it is a really great movie , but... Read more

Published on Dec 20 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars War has no winners
Strong animation as expected of Japanese animation.
The story of 2 Children trying to survive after their Mother dies from her injuries is a insight into a side of war... Read more

Published on Nov 4 2004 by Colin Wong

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE BEST FILMS OF MY LIFE (AND THE MOST SAD)
(I'm sorry but my english is not very good.)

I've seen this film some days ago, and now i continue thinking about the story of this film. Read more

Published on July 6 2004 by Carlos Casas Escribano

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
In Japan, this movie can be watched by both adults and children (over 10yrs), though this is the most powerful movie of Miyuzaki and the Studio Ghibli films. Read more

Published on July 5 2004

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