Story Synopsis
On September 21, 1945, in a crowded subway station, alone and starving, young Seita (voiced
by Tsutomu Tatsumi) draws his final breath. With his pain finally freed to the
afterlife, Seita’s is reunited with his beloved little sister Setsuko (voiced by Ayano Shiraishi).
At last able to move on, our story returns to the final months of the Second
World War.
The American forces continue their advance on the Japanese homeland. Bombing raids have become an almost daily occurrence.
Life is difficult and grim. The next meal may not come at all. One day, a squad of bombers fly overhead
to commence the latest fire storm.
Seita is hurrying to save whatever he can and asks his mother to take refuge in the nearest shelter while he looks after his sister. The family now separated, Seita is finishing up when the raid begins. Countless fire bombs descend upon the wooden structures which are quickly engulfed in flames. The siblings manage to survive, but in the process they lose their home, their town, and their mother.
With few options left, Seita is determined to do whatever it takes to ensure he and Setsuko live to see the day when the Great Japanese Empire prevails.
Seita is hurrying to save whatever he can and asks his mother to take refuge in the nearest shelter while he looks after his sister. The family now separated, Seita is finishing up when the raid begins. Countless fire bombs descend upon the wooden structures which are quickly engulfed in flames. The siblings manage to survive, but in the process they lose their home, their town, and their mother.
With few options left, Seita is determined to do whatever it takes to ensure he and Setsuko live to see the day when the Great Japanese Empire prevails.
Film Positives
YAY GHIBLI! MAGIC AND WHIMSY AND FUN! What sort of imaginative, heart warming adventure are we about to go
on this time?
We're not..
Grave of the Fireflies is an exceptional
piece of film making, brilliantly put together, and is something which should be looked at. That being said, it’s going to make you feel like crap. By the way, I didn’t know that going in and oh boy, I was not expecting to
get my heart ripped the f@#$ out.
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| Seita |
Each step
forward in this movie is perfect; absolutely perfect.
Every beat,
every moment, every scene flows into the next. The transition is seamless and
never interrupted. There are no leaps or lapses; no wasted time. Everything has a point, has a reason,
and is leading to something.
Grave of the Fireflies is tragic and I’ve notice in other tragedies, sadness is often accompanied by frustration. If only a character had done this or if only a character hadn’t done that; so on and so on. This is neither wrong nor a negative, just a common companionship. That’s not here.
Grave of the Fireflies is tragic and I’ve notice in other tragedies, sadness is often accompanied by frustration. If only a character had done this or if only a character hadn’t done that; so on and so on. This is neither wrong nor a negative, just a common companionship. That’s not here.
Grave of the Fireflies is sad because the
events of the story appeared unavoidable. Characters were never given a choice
and any option that was provided never led to anything good. When a decent alternative was
available, the deck was so heavily stacked against it that it no longer
came off as a legitimate possibility. |
| Setsuko |
This
situation sucked because even though the aunt was being extremely
unlikable, I saw where she was coming from. A war was going on
and she had a family of her own she needed to look after. Could she have been nicer about it; yes. Does it excuse her attitude; no. Sometimes, all I
could think was, “I get what you’re saying, but god damn it, you’re literally
being the worst kind of person right now”.
Seita had to make a choice. Does he continue to allow him and his
sister to deal with this kind of treatment or does he break it off? From him point of view, staying would mean a roof over their heads. Yet they would be constantly chastised, were clearly not wanted, and the aunt had already proven she was willing to manipulate their circumstances and even steal from them.
As a young kid having already lost your mother and the only home you've ever
known, what choice would you make?
This was one
of the more critical turning points, but a similar build up happened at each decision; if there was even one to begin with. Grave of the Fireflies goes after your
raw emotions and it’s going to hit.
Film Negatives
I can’t think of anything this move did wrong. Hell I
can’t even come up with a single nitpick to harp on. Therefore, I’m just going to ramble for a bit. If you don’t wish to read through this, feel
free to jump right to the end.
Grave of the Fireflies is outstanding cinema. I'm really glad I watched it. However, I don't know how often I'm going
to watch it again. It'll never be for fun I can promise you that. To me, this isn't the type of film that was made for entertainment purposes.
This is a story, a very sad story. It has its message it wants to get
across, but that message is up to the viewer. Is this an
anti-war film; perhaps. Is it a bleak outlook of an already dark moment in
history; you could take it that way.
For me, I can’t help but see a glint of positivity and maybe it was this which made the end hurt even more. There’s a point in the film where the kids
are struggling. They’re not even at their lowest yet, but they've already been
through a lot. In utter darkness, they found something
to pick their spirits up.
They’re
alone, scared, and literally without any light source. Seita's
able to power through, but Setsuko's just too young. A little kid afraid of
the dark doesn’t change based on what's going on. Seita's remedy is nothing short of brilliant. He gathers a bunch of fireflies and
releases them all around their sleeping area, momentarily illuminating the blackness. Now thinking about it, this scene is much more painful than when I first saw it. I
could be wrong, but this was the sibling's last genuinely innocent smile.
These kinds
of films are important. They need to exist because not every story is going to
have a happy ending. Everything working out in the end isn’t a work of fiction,
it does happen. However we all know it's almost never a guarantee.
Final Thoughts
Grave of the Fireflies is fantastic. Not
fun, but fantastic.
Like I said,
there’s nothing for me to complain about; it’s done so well. The story is told
in such a way you can’t help but go through with it. Even when you accept what’s going to happen isn’t great.
I am going way deeper than I wanted to go. This isn't a film study; I’m only here to give a
recommendation. With that being the case,
Grave of the Fireflies may not be the
most feel good enjoyable, but it is defiantly worth a look.
Ghibli Month will continue tomorrow with 1988’s, My Neighbor Totoro.
Ghibli Month will continue tomorrow with 1988’s, My Neighbor Totoro.
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