GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, 1988
Movie Review

During the final days of WWII, two orphaned children must fend for themselves and discover the hardships of survival, much through the realization of their helplessness and the uncaring nature of their countrymen, turning a nation in shambles into an unbearable experience.

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REVIEW:

When I lurk the internet forums talking about people’s favourite movies, the variety and choices of most people either make me close the window immediately or start Wikipedia-ing as many titles as possible. One boring day, I stumbled across the question on a forum, “What movies made you cry?” There were lists and lists of people’s top movies: “The Green Mile,” “The Lion King,” “Of Mice and Men,” among others. Either I had seen them or I was rather uninterested, but one title caught my eye. An anime fan, like me, pointed out a movie he had seen a while back that he stated brought him to tears. “’Grave of the Fireflies’ is absolutely the saddest movie ever made.” This movie I had not seen, and I was far from uninterested. My curiosity stimulated, I researched the title. What I found was a truly exceptional discovery.

Since that discovery, I had it in the back of my mind to pick it up sometime and watch it, though it never came up in my consciousness. Finally, I had found it at a random game and video shop in Toronto. I was excited, but also weary due to its reputation, to view it. When researching its background, I discovered that “Grave of the Fireflies” is not as unknown as I thought. Ebert gives it 4 stars; they say it’s one of the best anti-war and animated films ever made, #193 on IMDb’s Top 250, so I began to prepare myself for this occasion. I regret that in hindsight because I can’t seem to shake the thought that I’d be searching for a tissue box rather than just choking up a bit at the credits.

To say this is an enjoyable film would be a lie. It’s not enjoyable. However, it will leave you thinking about a lot of things by the credits. This film is unique to me in a sense that it rarely ever gives what most anime films or shows are sure to offer. The reason animation exists, at least in my opinion, is to stretch reality as far as possible. Drawing things instead of just seeing them can spawn impossible and spectacular ideas.

The story centers around two children, the teenager Seita, and his five-year old sister Setsuko. During the dying days of WWII, firebombing still occurs in Japanese towns, Seita’s village being no exception. Their mother tells them to head to the shelter, unable to go with them due to a heart condition, and assures them she will be safe. After a rather disturbing set of images portraying the aftermath, Seita discovers his mother has been horrifically burned from the waist up, completely bandaged and bloody. Stop right here. Already, I am at a loss for words. The images shown and the realism that has been portrayed almost get to you right away. Especially seeing Seita’s mother basically dead and knowing that he has to take care of a young sister alone affects you immediately. Even before that, the film hints to what is to come.

Before these events occur, the film begins with the lines: “September 21, 1945... that was the night I died.” The mood is already set. The tone is obvious, and the audience is already beginning to brace themselves. Seita’s then dying words, slumped on a subway pillar among other homeless, dying, war-torn heaps of people, are “Setsuko.” This is how the film starts. While janitors clean up the subway around the dead and dying, he finds a motionless Seita clutching a tin can. Unsure of its nature, he leisurely tosses it into the grass, opening it as it hits the ground. The spirits of Seita and Setsuko pour out, along with bright, fluttering fireflies, as they begin to tell their tale of heartbreak and hopelessness.

Returning to Seita in the past, alive, he is informed of his mother’s death. Unable to bring himself to tell Setsuko, he hides this fact from her to keep her happy. Setsuko asks to see her mother, and Seita is forced to lie in front of her face. The two find a distant relative of their father, in the Japanese Navy, who at first appears welcoming and kind. Seita and Setsuko experience a brief moment of peace, their activities such as catching the fireflies around the house and playing on the beach giving a misleading but uplifting mood to the story. Things turn sour however, and their aunt begins to grow annoyed at their apparent disregard for the civilian’s responsibility during

It’s during this part of the second act where the emotions, both character and audience, begin to sink in. Mainly it is Setsuko, the little sister, which truly causes the amount of sadness that you feel from watching this film. Her character design; diminutive figure, facial features in traditional anime style and raggedy clothing all amounts to the impression of innocence in a destroyed world. How they animated Setsuko, and the voice acting that accompanies it, creates a strikingly real impression of a girl at her age. This reflection of realism is what drives the profound feeling of relation, especially when she cries. Each scene where the two find themselves alone and hopeless, Setsuko’s face is what brings home the emotion. One can also find themselves sympathizing with Seita, who has to experience his sister’s dying health first-hand. His tears, I think, can affect the audience more than Setsuko’s. They represent the reality of their situation, the despair that surrounds them, and the little he can do for his sister. That feeling of helplessness; finding yourself unable to do anything else for those you love, is what brings most people to tears.The final part of the second act consists of the two finding a new home; an abandoned air raid shelter built under a cliff.

They’ve brought with them whatever supplies people have to offer, and live off rice and scarce food for as long as they can. Gradually, painfully, they begin to descend into starvation. Malnutrition has its effects and the two begin to suffer from related diseases. Seita makes constant trips to town during air raids to steal from houses in order to find bartering items for food. Running out of solutions, Seita is reduced to stealing from local farmers which proves unsuccessful. After being caught, he finds the only choice left is to withdraw the 3000 yen from his mother’s bank account, in the process discovering that his father, along with the rest of the Navy fleet, has been sunk. Returning to the shelter, he finds his sister, so thin it’s unsettling, offering rocks for Seita to eat thinking they are rice balls. Seita, emotionless, holds her as she falls asleep for the last time in her life. The spirits of the two from the tin can, an icon throughout the film, watch as their former lives end. Along with the fireflies, they slowly dim into the darkness.

By the end, we are exposed to the plague of wartime indifference to these suffering children and the realization of misery that surrounds them throughout their journey. This film, as many have stated, portrays the lives of the most devastated victims of all during war—the children. It makes for a saddening, depressing, shocking and heartbreaking account. The ending of it left me speechless. Not because I didn’t expect it, but because it’s real. It’s real suffering. It’s real loss of life. It’s real, human sadness. Animation is taken to new, more serious bounds with this film. It’s no lie that it is one of the best anti-war and animated films ever made. It’s a bleak film; a sad film, but it is one that should be viewed by all, not because it’s animated, but because it will touch you. It pushes you into a world where it’s out of your comfort zone, and like the characters in this film, you can all but watch as the good in life starts to disappear.

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Grave of the Fireflies