Grave of the Fireflies
by Isao Takahata
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Akemi Yamaguchi, Ayano Shiraishi, Rhoda Chrosite, Tsutomu Tatsumi, Yoshiko ShinoharaDirector: Isao Takahata
Brand: Central Park Media
Cinematographer: Nobuo Koyama
Writer: Isao Takahata
Editor: Takeshi Seyama
Producer: Ryoichi Sato
Writer: Akiyuki Nosaka
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); Japanese (Original Language)
Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 89 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-12-07
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Central Park Media Corporation (I) (II)
Movie Reviews of Grave of the Fireflies
Movie Review: Emotionally powerful, hauntingly poetic, anti-war anime
Summary: 5 Stars
"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 guilty 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.
Summary of Grave of the Fireflies
"This tragic masterpiece from Studio Ghibli is based on the semi autobiographical novel by Akiyuki Nosaka, winner of the naoki Award for literature. In the aftermath of a WWII bombing, two orphaned children struggle to survive in the Japanese countryside."Similar DVD Movies
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