Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
A quietly beautiful, saddening film, 26 Aug 2004
This is a film apart from any other Ghibli film I have seen. Where as Miyazaki films (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) are fantastical, this film is very much grounded in the gritty reality of our resent past. Set at the end of World War II it is the harrowing story of 2 children facing life in a war-ravaged Japan. Make no mistake, this film is not typical Ghibli escapism. The grim realities of war are never sugar coated, this film pulls no punches. The characters are just as grounded in reality as the setting. There is no idealised hero here. Seita is a boy struggling with responsibilities no child should face, he strives to look after his sister as best he can in a situation beyond his means to control. This film is all the more powerful because of the real characters. The cold reaction of people to the children's misfortune is uncomfortable to watch, but probably more real than we would care to admit. Even with such a grim subject matter it still manages to be beautiful and even magical in places. I'd be lying if I said this was my favourite Ghibli film, but very few animated films have emotionally affected me as much as Grave of the Fireflies. Recommended with a sad heart.
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
"Why do fireflies have to die so soon?", 27 May 2005
I am not an anime expert or anything close to that; I have only watched a couple of series and another couple of movies in this genre. Maybe that is why in my mind I had classified the genre as one that is based mainly on action, usually involving swords or guns and vast amounts of blood. This is one of the main reasons why my curiosity was highly piqued when people recommended this movie to me and I read about its topic. After watching it I was instantly convinced that I had just experienced one of the most successful attempts at conveying the consequences war has on innocent people. In this case the effect is magnified by the fact that the sufferers are children. In the year 1945, close to the end of World War II, Japan is being bombarded through air raids. A young boy named Senta and his little sister, Setsuko, have to run to the shelter and in the process they get separated from their mother. When they finally find her again she is seriously injured and does not last long in her attempts at survival. Now the kids only have an aunt to support them and guide them through the turmoil. But the grownup performs this task with little enthusiasm, so the children are basically left to survive by themselves. That is when we get to see the power of love between the siblings, and the contrast with the disinterest of the rest of the people in the village regarding the well-being of the kids. I am sure that this is one of the great masterpieces of the genre, since it presents a whole array of emotions, running from despair to hope without limits, through its excellent script and crafty graphics. In my case it will probably serve as a benchmark to rate all other future anime dramas in the future. If you have never watched any anime and are trying to decide where to start, I guarantee you that there is no better place than right here!
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Humanity., 11 Jun 2004
This is a story about people and the way that events transpire to make us behave in ways that we would previously abhor. It's about the relationship between a brother and his small sister. It's about grief. It's about love. It's about pride and respect and compassion. It's about pain and death and the bliss of ignorance. It's about historical perspective and the folly of militarism. It's a warning and a blessing. You will not watch this DVD and feel happy but you will appreciate the experience because the producers have created an art work of significance. This is FAR more than the sum of its parts: obstensibly about siblings trying to survive in wartime Japan but also a true evocation of the human spirit and the love that is within us all. A true classic and an astonishing achievement. Special credit must go to five year old (in 1988) Ayano Shiraishi who voiced Setsuko; a more perfect performance for the part is hard to imagine. With that in mind PLEASE only watch the film in Japanese with subtitles: it's not just a style thing, the vocal performances are far superior to those of the English soundtrack and it makes a lot of difference to the experience.
Again: this is a SERIOUS production in every sense. It's not entertainment in the normal usage of the word: more of a spiritual and educative gem!
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