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Film Description
Setsuko and Seita are brother and sister struggling for survival in war-torn Japan. Their mother has been killed and the whereabouts of their soldier father is unknown. They depend on one another to stay alive but gradually they succumb to hunger and for entertainment they watch the light of the fireflies.
In this astonishing animated film Seita and his little sister Setsuko are orphaned at the beginning of the Second World War. After living with their irascible Aunt, th... more >
In this astonishing animated film Seita and his little sister Setsuko are orphaned at the beginning of the Second World War. After living with their irascible Aunt, they decide to move away from their unpleasant new life and inhabit a discarded bomb shelter in the countryside, where they are entranced by the light of the fireflies. Soon, however, the grim reality of their situation penetrates their fantasy utopia, and starvation slowly sets in.
In spite of critical acclaim, Grave Of The Fireflies remains bizarrely overlooked. It has been compared favourably with Schindler's List, and critic Roger Ebert stated that "it belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made", yet the film's reputation has usually been ignored in favour of the (admittedly superb) work of other Japanese animators such as Miyazaki.
The war film genre is rarely seen in cartoon form, yet animation lends itself perfectly to the film - the shots of devastation and death would be hard to convey so powerfully in a live-action film, whilst the gritty realism depicted in a medium usually associated with children compounds the feeling of innocence lost. The scenes where the fireflies light up the night sky are incredible, and the children's emotional expressions are beautifully delineated. As with the earlier When The Wind Blows, animation lends an appalling dimension to the representation of the horrors of war. < less
