MOVIE REVIEW: GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES

I began watching anime recently — towards the end of last year. Although, I watched a few in my childhood, I didn’t know they were animes until some years back. The only one I can remember is Kiki’s Delivery Service.

I’ve come to enjoy the movies especially. The last one I watched had such an impact on me that I’ll be doing a review of it. It’s none other than Grave of the Fireflies.

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This movie ripped me to shreds, then pieced me back together again. It was heart-wrenching — so agonizingly sad. I sobbed shamelessly.

Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 anime based on the book, The Grave of Fireflies by Akiyuki Nosaka. It depicts the costly effects of war, focusing on a fourteen-year-old boy, Seita, and his four-year-old sister, Setsuko, who suffer the ravages of World War 2.

Their mother gets greatly wounded after an American firebombing and dies soon after. Having nowhere else to go, they go to live with their aunt who is kind to them initially and treats them well until some time into the war when she becomes resentful towards them. Nearly everything they do annoys her and she doesn’t feed them well. Unable to put up with her cruelty anymore, the siblings are forced to move to a bomb shelter to live. Here, they trade their mother’s clothes and whatever else they can for food until no food is available to buy, and Seita resolves to stealing. Soon, the war takes its toll on them. They lose their father as well, and Setsuko dies of starvation. Having no parents and no sister, Seita has no will to live. The war has ended when he gives up the ghost in a subway station.

The movie begins with Seita’s death in the subway station and then shows as his spirit meets Setsuko’s. Then we are taken back to see how the tragedy happened. With the way it begins, it’s obvious he loses his family, but it’s just how it happens that I wait to see. I keep watching for how and when Setsuko would die and when she does, it breaks me. The scene is so heartbreaking and emotional that it’s hard to not shed tears. I did. Her thin body alone lying weak on the ground would break you first before she dies. It’s amazing how the movie was animated to convey such powerful emotions.

Another powerfully emotional scene is the one where Seita goes to steal to feed his sick sister and was caught, beaten and dragged to the police station by an unfeeling farmer. I could not understand how he had the heart to do that with the boy’s little sister crying out for her brother. When Seita returns, weak, bruised and ragged from all the manhandling, and Setsuko asks if he’s hurt and if she should get a doctor, Seita breaks down in tears. This is something we rarely see Seita do and it forced tears out of my eyes. It’s one of the most heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever scene in a movie. There’s so much raw emotion.

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The movie is not all sadness though. Before starvation weakens the siblings, we get a lot of happy scenes. For this, I’d say that Seita should win a prize for Best Big Brother. Although he doesn’t always make the right decisions, he spends his days trying to make his sister happy, sacrificing all he can, and going to great ends doing it. There are happy moments at the beach, happy moments catching fireflies, or simply just talking and running around. It’s beautiful to see them happy despite the war going on. And Seita tries to keep the smile on his sister’s face.

About Seita not making the right decisions, I have a question: To what ends do we go to keep our pride? Seita is the son of a naval officer and is shown to always have his head held high. This should be as a result of his upbringing. Now, this should be a good thing only that it stops him from making the best decisions for survival. When the farmer refuses to sell food to him, telling him instead to return to his aunt, it’s pride that stops him from doing that. When things get so bad that Setsuko falls ill and they have nothing to eat, I wonder why he doesn’t just go to his aunt for help. She didn’t kick them out after all. His pride makes him watch his sister grow weak and eventually die when he could have saved her.

In a war situation, it’s often everyone for himself. It’s no different in this movie where adults don’t even act responsibly. First of all, the sibling’s aunt lets them leave to fend for themselves when she knows they are children and should be looked after. She shows no concern whatsoever. We don’t see her making an attempt to keep them in her house, or find them when they leave. There’s no sympathy from her end. Another adult is the farmer who catches Seita stealing. He could have let the boy have what he stole because he could actually afford to, but he didn’t. Also, why did he need to take him to the authorities? That’s simply wickedness. Generally, the adults in the movie do not look out for the starving children even when they can do a little for them. It’s sad.

I still can’t understand why Seita waited till the last moment to withdraw their money from the bank when his sister had been ill. He could have made better decisions.

All in all, Grave of the Fireflies is indisputably a masterpiece. It captures all the emotions it set out to and gives all it needs to give. It’s a moving story with strong themes that will stand the test of time. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.