Grave of the Fireflies - A+

​Quick Hit: Devastatingly real and tragic, this story shows the hidden cost of war.

Quick – if I ask you to name a movie about war, what comes to mind? Hacksaw Ridge? Dunkirk? Saving Private Ryan? Platoon? Or maybe something more like Pearl Harbor, or even Captain America is more your speed. Whatever your thoughts, unless you’re an anime fan, Grave of the Fireflies probably wasn’t the first movie to pop into your mind. But it is, without a doubt in my mind, one of the most effective war stories I have ever watched, and it had me ripped apart inside by its ending.

You can see where the story is going, and that still doesn’t prepare you for the emotions that follow. Seita is a young teenager who we see pass away in the opening shots of the film. The story of his life is told in flashback throughout the rest of the film – we see that he is from a town that the Americans firebombed, mortally wounding his mother. His father is a naval captain, nameless and away at war. This leaves Seita, himself barely more than a child, to care for his younger sister Setsuko in a town that is ripped apart by grief and the struggle to survive. This first leads him to live with an aunt, who eventually begins to resent the intrusion in her home – more on this in a bit – and so Seita and Setsuko begin to struggle on their own in a cave.

Grave is the work of Isao Takahata, who passed away earlier this year. He gives us some beautiful scenery shots, that are done in a lazy, realistic style (I use lazy as a compliment there). The animation of the characters is much like you’d see in most anime in the early nineties – think Dragon Ball or Pokemon. But unlike those shows, often full of manic energy, there is a quiet to this animation that helps bring the characters more to life. There are moments of intense joy in this heart-wrenching film, and Takahata brings them out with moments of silent reflection on our surroundings. The characters faces are still fluid and expressive, allowing the face to stretch in ways it never could, and give us a deeper reflection of certain emotions, like a child’s sadness or wonder at a firefly. 

I said that I would get back to the aunt, and here I shall. If most people picked a villain of this story (well, besides war itself), they would probably refer to this aunt. But can you really blame her? She’s just trying to protect herself and her family. Whilst most of us would probably protect our extended family as well, I’m sure she’s not the only one that would put her own children first. This sounds harsh, but that’s the truth of Grave – it feels extremely real because it doesn’t sugar coat it. People look out for themselves first, which, at extreme times, leads to terrible things. It’s why we love stories like Hacksaw Ridge, because even if they are based on real things, they are the extraordinary – they don’t happen regularly because most people aren’t like that. People are intrinsically sinful and selfish – just like Seita’s aunt.

Ok, finally, let’s take a moment to talk about what I guess is a spoiler (this movie is thirty years old, so you’re welcome for the spoiler alert), and typing this will give me a moment to pull on my big boy pants and try not to cry again.
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So, the sweet little girl that probably reminds you of your little cousin, your little sister, or maybe even your own child (my case), dies. It’s inevitable – there’s not much to be done. I was ok when she first passed – but when Takahata took time to reflect on Setsuko’s moments alone by their shelter, I lost it. It was so achingly beautiful, and perfectly reflected a child’s grace and wonder in a world that has lost those qualities. The death of Setsuko is not just the death of a character, but reflective of an entire world losing its innocence with the advent of nuclear bombs. It’s haunting, and gorgeous, and it wrecked me inside. 

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If you are a fan of human stories, you should watch this. If you are a fan of war stories, you should watch this. If you are a fan of animation, you should watch this. I don’t think I could recommend this to enough people, only to have them hate me and say they’ll never watch it again. Grave of the Fireflies is an “A+” experience.

For more on this film, check out IMDB.