Grave of the Fireflies - review

[Dark Lilly]

Grave of the Fireflies isn't an animation that happened to be dramatic. It's a drama that happened to be an animation. Roger Ebert stated in a review, "Their story is told not as melodrama, but simply, directly, in the neorealist tradition. And there is time for silence in it. One of the film's greatest gifts is its patience; shots are held so we can think about them, characters are glimpsed in private moments, atmosphere and nature are given time to establish themselves." It is said that older Japanese folk have difficulty sitting through the film because it comes too close to real life.

Released in 1988, Grave of the Fireflies was originally a semi-autobiographical novel by Akiyuki Nosaka written some twenty years after WWII. It was an effort to ease his mind about the time. The anime itself is by master animator Isao Takahata, and Hayao Miyazaki. Together they detail the horror and hardship war places on the innocent by making us look at it through the eyes of two Japanese children who can no longer look to society for help. The mood of the population is grim: they all expect the Americans to invade "any day now" but continue to believe in, and struggle for, what they have been told is the invincible Japanese Empire. As the children attempt to survive in an abandoned bomb shelter we are shown the real “grave of the fireflies.”

I have yet to see animation more amazing. With simple, plain animation, little things invoke strong underlying emotions. It is fluid and a notch above anything made at that time as well as things more current. Body movements are graceful and facial expressions are telling. Every single detail, from a firefly’s glow to a broom against a wall, is carefully used to create a somber, sorrowful feel. One technique employed to this end was the use of shades of brown and little to no black. Subdued watercolors further emphasize the hopelessness that engulfs the main characters while the nature scenes remain beautiful and tranquil.

Some Americans are offended that the only representation of US forces in the film are planes and incendiary bombs falling on civilian targets (it happened … a lot) and that there is no allusion to the fact that Japan was the aggressor in WWII. Big deal. Everybody knows that. What GotFF does make is a strong, intelligent statement about how a national war machine consumes its own people to serve an end its leaders have lost sight of.

GotFF has been called “the Schindler's List of anime with a much more depressing ending”. I find it displays a depth of anime that (Western) animation has yet to achieve. It makes people forget it is animated and for days afterward, to think, "Why did he do this?” or “Oh, that’s what that meant!” Very few films can do that. The beginning of GotFF is the ending. I suggest that when you reach the end of the film, you go back and watch the beginning again. Oh, hell. Just watch it twice ... at least.

On a scale of one to ten, this one is a twelve. 10 = The visuals are true works of art and the story and characters spark the imagination between episodes and make you miss them when the show is over. A classic to be watched again and again. A DVD I will buy

[Bun_ny]

Great movie. I watched it last halloween. Really emotional. Good rating!!

[Hey]

Dark Lilly, did you really write this review? It is one of the best reviews I have seen in years. I thought it was impossible to explain this work of art in words, but you have proved me wrong. It's like you've read my mind (and many others I'm sure) inside out...

"...It makes people forget it is animated and for days afterward, to think, "Why did he do this?” or “Oh, that’s what that meant!”..."

.....Amazing.

To this day, whenever I watch Grave of the Fireflies I feel my heart sink and I cry. I sometimes cry just thinking about it... It is, without a doubt, my all-time favorite.

Thank you for posting this wonderful review.

[Dark Lilly]

>Dark Lilly, did you really write this review? It is one of the best reviews I have seen in years. I thought it was impossible to explain this work of art in words, but you have proved me wrong. It's like you've read my mind (and many others I'm sure) inside out...

++Thanks. I did write it … after I watched it three times in a row and read a gazillion reviews to research its background and to help me wrap words around the impact it made on me. I borrowed a few ideas, but not too many words.

Believe it or not, one reviewer said they “hated it because it was too slow and should have only been an hour long.” Another warped soul said they thought it was funny and that they “laughed their “a** off at all the death and destruction.” I have no idea who the person was, but he really worries me.

I want to show it to a neighbor of mine who shared similar experiences in Germany during WWII. I’m real interested in her take on it.

[darkdriver]

Just a little info...

The raids on civilian targets was the brainchild of the infamous Adm. "Bull" Halsey. His fleet and fighters were supposed to be held back as extra forces that could be brought into battle if necessary...but the inactivity got to Halsey--especially with Eisenhower, MacArthur, and Patton making the news.
He decided to try his hand at becoming famous, so he ordered his fighters to attack Tokyo. Of course, since these weren't authorized bombing runs, neither Halsey nor his pilots had intel on strategic sites in Tokyo...so he had them just bomb everything they could without regard for the civilian population below.
Of course, most people don't know about this...then again, most history books don't include Halsey's name in their discussions on WWII, either.

[Dark Lilly]

Thanks for that bit of info. Most of my WWII studies has been focused on the European Theatre so I am not as well versed in what happened in the Pacific. There are plenty of saints and sinners on either side of any conflict. The ones who suffer are the innocents in the middle.

And you know, I do remember hearing the name Adm. Halsey but little to go with it.

Thanks again.