“Grave of the Fireflies” is one of the rare animated movies to come along that seems to push its greatness beyond the realm of what a typical animated movie would do. Of course the 1990s had their fair share of deep animated movies for adults, with Disney seemingly attempting to venture off its typical fairy-tale path by providing deeply moving films for adults as well as children. Perhaps they took a cue from this 1988 film, which truly shows animated films can pack as powerful a punch as any live-action film.
The film takes on perhaps one of the darkest subjects ever tackled by an animated film. It tells the story of two children living in the port city of Kobe in Japan who, in the waning days of World War II, are made homeless and left orphans after American napalm bombs tear their mostly wooden hut village to shreds, killing their mother.
Saita, a young teenager, barely has any time to mourn the loss of his mother before he must take care of his younger 5-year-old sister, Setsuko. It becomes clear as the film progresses that he may not be up to the daunting task of caring for another life. Food is scarce, shelter unstable and help from others hard to come by. But as he does the best he can while making huge sacrifices just to make his younger sister happy, the constant hope that he may prevail is what commands the viewers’ attention.
Having seen the 1997 film “Life is Beautiful” prior to viewing this film, it was interesting to see the likely coincidental similarities between the two. Although the settings and circumstances of the two films’ characters are different, for the most part, “Grave of the Fireflies” plays out like “Life is Beautiful,” had Roberto Begnini’s comedic styles been completely done away with and more of the destruction of his homeland highlighted. There are many instances where “Grave of the Fireflies” paces itself slowly, taking in the sights and horror of what is going on around the two kids. This is extremely
effective in allowing the viewer to bask and reflect on the consequences the two feel, but also to fully engage with the
story. This isn’t to take away from Begnini or his film, but at times it felt like his actions took away from the story, whereas in this film there is nothing but a good story to focus on.
Some may complain the animation of the film looks fake. It is a Japanese film done with the typical anime style, which may detract certain viewers. It is unfortunate, though, that anyone would be turned off by the way it looks. As fake as it may appear to be, the film is about as real in regards to portraying human emotion as any animated film has ever been.
– Scott Hansen
