Grave of the Fireflies DVD
Widely considered one of the greatest anime productions ever made, Grave of the Fireflies is the 1988 movie written and directed by Isao Takahata for Studio Ghibli.
Grave of the Fireflies is one of the most powerful anti-war movies ever made. I defy anyone to watch to its conclusion with dry eyes. Grave of the Fireflies gives a vivid and non-partisan portrayal of the human cost of war. The real victims of war are the ordinary people it touches, regardless of what side they happen to be on. There are no winners, only losers.
Though Seita and Setsuko are fictional the movie is made all the more poignant by the knowledge that right now there are countless Seitas and Setsukos left struggling for survival in the war-torn regions of Iraq, Afghanistan and many others.
Over and above the war theme, Grave of the Fireflies touches upon differing aspects of humanity and how these are influenced for better or worse by extreme circumstances.
Despite, or more likely because of, the beauty of the artwork and sheer human-ness of the caharcters Grave of the Fireflies is not easy viewing. It is, however, an experience that leaves an indelible mark upon its audience.
Taking place toward the end of World War II in Japan, Grave of the Fireflies is the poignant tale of the relationship between two orphaned children, Seita and his younger sister Setsuko. The children lose their mother in the firebombing of Kobe, and their father in service to the Imperial Japanese Navy, and as a result they are forced to try to survive amidst widespread famine and the callous indifference of their countrymen (some of whom are their own extended family members). Ultimately both children die of starvation, and the graphic nature of their suffering and death is uniquely harrowing in the annals of anime.
The story is based on the semi-autobiographic novel by the same name, whose author, Nosaka, lost his sister due to malnutrition in 1945 wartime Japan. He blamed himself for her death and wrote the story so as to make amends to her and help him accept the tragedy.
Due to the graphic and truly emotional depiction of the negative consequences of war on society and the individuals therein, some critics have viewed Grave of the Fireflies as an anti-war film, especially as no positive consequences of war are shown in the story. The film does provide an insight into Japanese culture by focusing its attention almost entirely on the personal tragedies that wars give rise to, rather than seeking to glamorize it as a heroic struggle between competing ideologies.
An alternative interpretation is that Grave of the Fireflies illustrates the danger of pride over reason. This view holds that Nosaka’s alter ego, Seita, must face a crucial decision (on two occasions – when he leaves the aunt’s house and when the man in the field rejects him), either stay with the wicked aunt, work, earn money and face reality, or run away. Ultimately, Seita choses pride over reason, and his fate and that of Setsuko is the result of his own decision to leave the aunt’s house – had they stayed, they would have most likely survived. Moreover, some have argued that if the film is in fact true to the book (which is a personal apology to the author’s own sister), such a premise in and of itself hardly demonstrates an intent to make the film a strident anti-war treatise.
Get Grave of the Fireflies on DVD
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