It's been a long time since I last reviewed a Studio Ghibli movie!
Here's the first half of the classic 1988 diptych.
Find more Studio Ghibli animated classics reviewed here!
Custom art done by yours truly. Check out my custom cover art here.
Movie: Grave of the Fireflies
Directed by Isao Takahata
Release date 1988
Genre Anime drama
Country Japan
The first big production from Studio Ghibli after Laputa turned out to be two movies.
The movies were paired around similar themes but radically different in execution and tone. Both from the founders of the animation studio.
An historical realistic tale from Isao Takahata which the producers at Toho feared wouldn't attract much audiences by itself. And the other from Hayao Miyazaki, more of a fantasy fable. Yet both set in the same rural Japan from the post-war era.
Grave of the Fireflies is based on a 1967 autobiographical novel written by Akiyuki Nosaka. He originally didn't want to see a movie based on his book, fearing it wouldn't be able to really capture his work.
But after seeing some storyboards from Takahata's film he finally agreed this could be the best way to go.
September 25, 1945.
The film takes place after the bombing in Kobe, Japan.
Grave of the Fireflies follows a 14 years old boy named Seita as he is forced to take care of his little sister Setsuko after the death of their mother.
They try to take shelter at their aunt's. But it is really difficult to take in orphans at that time.
Soon they are forced to leave since none are actually helping provide anything to the family.
They find an abandoned bomb shelter and live their for a while. They watch the beautiful fireflies at night, only to see them dead by the morning.
After living off the rest of their mother's money for a while, Setsuko starts to get very sick due to malnutrition...
Grave of the Fireflies aka Hotaru non haka is a war piece through and through.
But it's not a movie about the war. It does take place in that post-Second World War Japan, but it is very much a character driven story.
It's a very sad movie, don't mistake it. These are actual events the original author of the book went through in real life.
There is a sad happy note in the end, after all the injustice they went through our characters' spirits are able to move on, away from the violence and the reality.
It is a very powerful piece, an anti-war story that transcends its setting. Everyone can relate to these siblings, no matter what country you come from.
Isao Takahata and his creative team were able to bring these characters, and that era to life. Better than any actual live movie would have been able to.
The fantastic scenery, the beautiful animation and the colors really make this story great justice.
It's a great terrifying realistic tale how war ignores the very people it is supposedly to take place for. Don't think this is about Japan or the USA's answer. This is about the people that end up living the war, not the army or government or other abstract entities.
Grave of the Fireflies is deeply marked by post-war generation memories. A lot of experience comes from Takahata's own past history, he lived through those days in Nosaka himself. The movie's actually a great way he found to put those ghosts behind him.
And let's not miss the music. The score is absolutely phenomenal, it was composed by Michio Mamiya. Classical. It gives a very deep texture to these grey and sad times.
Released back to back with Miyazaki's lighthearted My Neighbor Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies failed to gather much success at the time. They were forced to split this double feature and have them re-released separately.
Overall, it is a great powerful movie.
One of the best animated films ever produced, if not simply amongst the best movies ever made.
A sad yet moving story, a brilliant anti-war piece. Definitively not for children
It is now a cult classic feature film, countless times featured amongst the most impressive and intelligent movies ever produced.
In 2005, a live action film principally based on the animated movie was produced. And a second live version was made in 2008.
A classic from Isao Takahata and Studio Ghibli.
I give it:
2.5 / 3 DonPatchis!
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