Movie-A-Day #343: Grave of the Fireflies

nathan

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Amazon.com essential video
Isao Takahata's powerful antiwar film has been praised by critics wherever it has been screened around the world. When their mother is killed in the firebombing of Tokyo near the end of World War II, teenage Seita and his little sister Setsuko are left on their own: their father is away, serving in the Imperial Navy. The two children initially stay with an aunt, but she has little affection for them and resents the time and money they require. The two children set up housekeeping in a cave by a stream, but their meager resources are quickly exhausted, and Seita is reduced to stealing to feed his sister.
The strength of Grave of the Fireflies lies in Takahata's evenhanded portrayal of the characters. A sympathetic doctor, the greedy aunt, the disinterested cousins all know there is little they can do for Seita and Setsuko. Their resources, like their country's, are already overtaxed: anything they spare endangers their own survival. As in the Barefoot Gen films, no mention is made of Japan's role in the war as an aggressor; but the depiction of the needless suffering endured by its victims transcends national and ideological boundaries. --Charles Solomon
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Sad, but beautiful film about the horrors of World War II in Japan and the strength of sibling love. Americans are lucky they have never been in a situation where lots of children are orphaned. Definitely the best Japanese animated film I've ever seen (even better than Spirited Away).
 

Bada0Bing

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Sad, but beautiful film about the horrors of World War II in Japan and the strength of sibling love. Americans are lucky they have never been in a situation where lots of children are orphaned. Definitely the best Japanese animated film I've ever seen (even better than Spirited Away).

Recently watched it. Yes, it was extremely sad and difficult to watch at times. I watched a documentary recently on HBO with interviews from people that survived these bombs. It's almost incomprehensible what these people went through. However, as nathan mentioned, it is also a beautiful film and it was easy to notice how much this film meant to the writer.

The film is based on a true story. Akiyuki Nosaka lost his little sister during the war to malnutrition and blamed himself for her death. He wrote Hotaru no haka (A Grave of Fireflies) in 1967 to come to terms with it.
 

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