Saturday, April 7, 2012

Classic Throwback Review: Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata, 1988)

Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 animated anti-war film from Studio Ghibli, written and directed by Isao Takahata. It is, I believe, an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka, intended as an apology to the author’s own sister. That is an extraordinary fact. Grave of the Fireflies, in short, is a devastating film. The story is punctuated by profoundly beautiful moments – both in the intricately animated visuals, and in the heartfelt relationship between the orphaned siblings, 14-year-old Saita and his 4-year-old sister, Setsuko – but it is an extraordinarily sad tale. Unexpectedly, it did not cause me to cry, and I will delve into one of the reasons I think this might be the case a little later. 


With their father away serving in the Imperial Navy, Saita and Setsuko live with their mother in the port city of Kobe. Towards the end of WWII the city is firebombed by American bombers and almost completely destroyed. With their mother severely wounded and taken to hospital (where she later dies from her burns), the siblings are left to fend for themselves. They initially stay with their contemptuous aunt, their father’s sister, but she resents the time and money they require, has little affection for them and views them as a burden.

She calls them lazy and thankless and criticizes Seita for not joining the Navy like his father, declaring that he sits around and does nothing, and doesn’t deserve the food she cooks and serves for them. He makes a choice, when his mother can no longer protect Setsuko, to devote his life to protect his sister and to choose the right moment to relay the news of their mother's death to her. This is what makes the film undeniably affecting.

Seita resorts to stealing to feed his sister once their meager supplies – they were forced by their aunt to sell their mother’s kimonos for rice – have been exhausted as they shelter in a cave by a stream. Grave of the Fireflies is a war film, capturing the harrowing tale of suffering experienced by many during the air raids on Tokyo that left the city decimated and many homeless and fighting desperately to survive. Nosaka and Takahata capture these horrors through the unique experiences of these two innocent children.


The early scenes of Seita running through the burning city with his sister tied to his back possess some powerful images, and convey just how close they will become throughout the course of the journey. The sequence where the two capture fireflies and use them to illuminate their cave is truly a sight and one of the most memorable moments in the film. The next morning Seita finds his sister burying the fireflies, accepting their mortality as she secretly accepts her mother's. 

Though Seita tries to bring delight to Setsuko throughout the film, their desperate situation also causes them to be at odds with one another too. In one heartbreaking scene in particular, Seita rolls over and hugs Setsuko while she is sleeping. She pushes him off and rolls away. It is one of the few times she has repelled his affection – but it tells so much.

The opening of the film actually threw me a little bit. I never expected it to open with the sequence that it did. It might be the primary reason why the ending did not quite leave the impact on me that it has for many others. Don’t get me wrong, the film continued to haunt me after watching, but I found this to be one feature that disappointed me slightly. Apart from that, there is little to detract from the awe-inspiring power of Grave of the Fireflies.


Learning the fate of one of the characters might seem to an unfamiliar reader to be a big spoiler, but ultimately for this film it is the journey along the way – the devastating destruction of Kobe and Tokyo, their extremes of malnutrition, the way Seita tries to offer Setsuko as much freedom to be a child as he can, his attempts to find nourishing food and medical help for his sister, and the indecency of the people they encounter – that is the most important feature. Everyone they cross paths with is in the same state of desperation and their personal resources, like their country's, are overtaxed. Acts of kindness are rare because anything spared endangers their own survival.

The film is gripping because the two siblings are so accurately characterised. It feels like we are watching real human children, and not the work of animators. Setsuko is absolutely adorable. Their story certainly possesses the power of a real human story and the animation doesn’t lessen the realism of the chaos and destruction, and their desperate attempts to survive. For me, it is a new experience watching an animated film, which are usually so pleasant and magical, to be so grounded in the harsh reality of war and delve into such devastating themes.


Grave of the Fireflies, visually, is a thing of beauty. I won’t go into details, because I am not confident I will serve the film justice. But be warned, there are some gruesome images present in this film, and though the two central characters are children, this is not a film for young children. It is an adult animation – capturing the destruction of childhood innocence as a result of warfare, but in addition to being an animated film it also functions as a deeply affecting anti-war film. An essential. 

19 comments:

  1. I didn't cry the first time I saw it (was in English class, so you feel obligated to hold it in, don't you? haha) Second time, yes. I feel tears coming on even thinking about it now, and I don't think I've seen anything more heartbreaking.I always thought the opening scene worked perfectly, myself. It just sets up the hopelessness of the story right from the start, and everything felt more tragic because of it. Beautiful write up, Andy!

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    1. I completely understand re: English class. You make a great point about the opening. I guess it was inevitable and a hopeless case, but what makes it such a tragic story is the fact that they survived pretty well for a while there and continue to have the pleasures of childhood, only to have it come to an end. One shot, and I think you know which one, almost brought me to tears.

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  2. This film is a masterpiece. Not only is beautifully animated with an amazingly emotional score, but it tells the story from the other side. The Japanese were "the enemy" during the war, but when it comes down to it, children are simply children. Great write-up.

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    1. Absolutely. Great way of interpreting this harrowing story. Everyone should have a heart for these children. Complete innocents.

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  3. Man, I need to see this. I remember reading about it in Ebert's Great Movies years ago and your loving piece is great accompaniment to that one. I think I'll head over to my Netflix queue.

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    1. You should watch it. Ebert is right on this one. It is really essential viewing.

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  4. I sometimes wonder if I was better off without watching it, even thinking about it gets me all clogged up. But I love this movie for everything you said in your second last paragraph especially 'For me, it is a new experience watching an animated film, which are usually so pleasant and magical, to be so grounded in the harsh reality of war and delve into such devastating themes.' Precisely. Good Review.

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    1. Thank you! Simply thinking about it is indeed haunting. Glad it affected you so strongly, too.

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    2. Speaking of animated films based in harsh reality, have either of you seen Waltz with Bashir? I think you have, SDG...

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    3. I certainly have. Both Grave and Bashir are in my Top 100. I also wrote about what we can call as 'Adult Animation' with examples of Grave, Bashir, Persepolis and Mary and Max.

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    4. I haven't seen Waltz with Bashir (or Persepolis), but I have seen Mary and Max. I am interested in that article. I will take a look.

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    5. Here you go. http://umeandfilms.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-face-of-animation.html

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  5. This is a film that I'm dying to see. In fact, I tried to watch it from a used DVD that I borrowed from my local library but the DVD was cracked in the middle as I only got to see part of the early scenes of the film. Pissed me off because I heard such great things about it.

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    1. Damn, that's a shame. You should try and get your hands on it sometime. I think you will really appreciate it.

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  6. Jeez after reading this and the comments, I feel like i should be crying now and I haven't even seen the damn film. Definitely going to try and get hold of this soon!

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    1. For most people, it is a tear-jerker. I was very sad for a while following, and I don't think I will be watching it too often.

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  7. Glad you dug Grave of the Fireflies, without doubt one of my favourites. I return to it very few times due to the sheer dread of crying over it yet again.

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  8. This one didn't resonate with me. Like you mention, the opening makes the film a bit emotionally distant, at least for me, and it hindered me from getting into the film. I didn't care for this one. I can see what others admire in it, but I don't have that emotional connection and I never found the characters interesting.

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    1. I really liked the characters, and I found the story to be horrifying. Just, I didn't feel as emotional as I expected, and I can only put it down to the beginning. I checked out your review. I understand completely how you feel, but it worked better for me.

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