Grave of the Fireflies

Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese anime film set just at the end of WWII. It is based on the autobiography by the same name. It centers on a brother and sister, Seita (say-ta) and Setsuko (set-sue-ko) who become orphans as the film progresses. The only goal they have in life is to survive, although we know that the protagonist is fighting a losing battle because the movie opens with him announcing that date in which he dies. The entire movie then becomes a flashback as the ghost of the main character relives the events just before his sister's death with his sister's ghost.

Now the movie is not as weird as this sounds. It's actually very depressing. You watch these kids lose their mother and then move in with their jerk of an aunt, who is not sad to see them leave, even when she does not know where they are going. And then they live in an abandoned shelter and scavenge nature for food.

The movie compares human lives to that of the short lived firefly. We come into the world and are only given so long to burn brightly and then our fire is extinguished. This point is made by comparing the grave that their mother was placed in with the grave that the little sister makes for the fireflies they capture one evening.

On a more interesting note, the film came out as a double feature with Miyazaki's My Neighbor Tototoro. According to Snoop this movie is very whimsical and fun, the complete opposite of the Fireflies. Many people went for Tototoro and left before Fireflies started because they didn't want to be depressed. Interestingly enough, Miyazaki's pitch for Tototoro failed initially until it was backed by the author of the book which Fireflies is based on.

It won the Blue Ribbon Award in 1989 and the Animation Jury and Rights of the Child awards in 1994 at the Chicago International Children's Film festival.

Overall, it is a very poignant film about the horror of war. I cannot recommend this film for the casual movie goer, or even the hardcore viewer. This film is best left to those who desire the intellectual stimulation, and the English classes who have a paper to write.

I give it a 6 out of 10.