Grave of the Fireflies, Isao Takahata

Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese animated drama film written and directed by Isao Takahata and animated by Studio Ghibli. It is based on the 1967 semi-autobiographical short story Grave of the Fireflies by Akiyuki Nosaka. Set in the city of Kobe, Japan, the film tells the story of two siblings, Seita and Setsuko, and their desperate struggle to survive during the final months of the Second World War. The film begins at Sannomiya Station on 21 September 1945, shortly after the end of World War II. A boy, Seita, is shown dying of starvation. Later that night, having removed Seita’s body, a janitor digs through his possessions and finds a candy tin which he throws away into a nearby field. The spirit of Seita’s younger sister, Setsuko, springs from the tin and is joined by Seita’s spirit as well as a cloud of fireflies. Seita’s spirit then begins to narrate their story accompanied by an extended flashback of the final months of World War II.

Grave of the Fireflies received acclaim from film critics. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times considered it to be one of the best and most powerful war films and, in 2000, included it on his “Great Movies” list. Two live-action remakes of Grave of the Fireflies were made, one in 2005 and one in 2008. It is commonly described as an anti-war film, but this interpretation has been challenged by the director and some critics.

This is one of the moving films I’ve ever seen. The animation starts with the line from Seita, “on the night of September 21, I died”. Was this literally the day he died? He is the narrator. I new from the begining that this film was going to be different. I remember watching this for the first time (I haven’t managed a second time). There were tears streaming down my cheeks by the end, such was it’s emotional impact on me. It shows the power of the medium of animation. The grace and beauty in which it is rendered only serve to make its impact more devestation. This is a real masterpiece by Takahata.