Grave Of The Fireflies. A masterpiece that tells the truth of war.

The good times

War films have always been a staple of cinema. From the first film to ever win the Academy award for Best Picture ( Wings, 1929 ) to the present day they have always been here. Dozens of them are made each year, we have the mega budget Dunkirk coming next month being the next big addition to the pantheon. People flock to them like flies. It's odd. We love to see a bit of suffering on screen but moan when the news is full of it everyday. Some war films are accused of glorifying battle and acting like recruitment ads. It's a criticism thats hard to deny especially with films like American Sniper being released every year. The best war films though are the ones that show it like the hell it is. That show the full effect of what it does to people, physically and psychologically. Full Metal Jacket, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Come And See, Grave Of The Fireflies. 


Grave Of The Fireflies. 

Even typing it gives me goosebumps. And not good goosebumps. No these are the kind of goosebumps that accompany a pounding heart and a sick stomach. Grave is a stunning film. But it's the kind of stunning that will kick you in the stomach and leave you feeling like crawling into bed for a week after it. It's the kind of film that people who haven't even seen it shudder at the mention of its name. 

Awe

It's the story of Seita and Setsuko, a brother and sister from Kobe in Japan. Seita is the older brother and Setsuko is his younger sister. It's March 1945 and the war in the Pacific is still raging. They live with their ill mother and their father is serving in the Japanese navy. One day the city is firebombed by US planes and their house is burned down, severely injuring their mother. The two go to live with their aunt who isn't pleased about the situation. I'll say no more, the people who've seen the film know the story and i don't want to spoil it for the people who haven't. That said, if you read the rest of this you'll probably figure it out.


The stinger of Grave is letting us get to know and fall for our lead characters all the while knowing what exactly will happen to them. The film starts at the end and then flashes back to better times. We get to see some of the lightness and joy of their lives of course but this only makes what comes later even worse. It's excruciating stuff, you sit watching with a pain in your belly and a heavy heart knowing you just have to let the story play out agonisingly and knowing that there is nothing you can do to stop it. Well apart from pressing stop. Seita and Setsuko are real breathing fully developed characters, not ciphers, meaning you care for them and dread the future. Brave Seita and lovely little Setsuko. Setsuko, the heart of the film. Seeing her suffer will catch in your throat and seeing Seita in pain at her suffering will lay you out. 

The bad times.

There's a horribly grim inevitability to the story. This isn't Hollywood. It is from a Japanese studio ( Studio Ghibli) in a country that still had war very much in it's consciousness as it was only 40 or so years past the end of World War 2. The studio founder Hiyao Miyazaki was 4 years old when the war ended and it had an indelible effect on him and his family having had to evacuate their family home just like the protagonists of the film. He saw first hand the suffering and knew that war rarely if ever has a happy ending, especially for the civilians who get caught up in it all. 

There's no glorification of battle in this. No fetishisation of the military machine. The US army is nearly an abstract enemy. We never see them in person and only barely glimpse the planes, instead hearing them and seeing the waste they have laid bare. This film could have been set in any war tbh, it wouldn't have changed its message. No glory, only carnage. At times we see the Japanese people turning on each other, becoming as bad as any enemy. War dehumanises people, turns them hollow and selfish. The kind of selfish that allows an adult to turn a blind eye to the suffering of children.

Imagine the terror, the fear, the loss of it all. And then the real pain starts, the hunger, the loneliness, the utter helplessness. It's nearly unthinkable right. Now imagine you are a child, on your own, no parents, everything you do is a struggle to survive. That's this film. It's the truth of war. 

If you haven't seen it I'm very envious of you. I know i've made it sound like a horrible slog but it's a film that needs to be seen. We need to remember that this story is still happening today, be it in the Sudan or Syria or Afghanistan. It's one of the most powerful films you'll ever see, animated or otherwise. A haunting, moving masterpiece.



Note - if you do decide to watch this, do watch it in it's original language with English subtitles. The dubbed version takes so much away from the film.