A Review - Grave of the Fireflies

If you want to know about Japanese animation and you want a great Japanese film, you can't beat Grave of the Fireflies. This is the first film that brought me to tears when I was 9 or 10 years old. Grave of the Fireflies is directed by Isao Takahata who recently passed away this April. He directed many films, but Grave of the Fireflies is only one in which he talked about war.

The main characters are a 14-year-old boy (older brother) and a 4-year-old girl (younger sister) who lost their parents during WWII. They don't have anything, no house, not enough money to live, no family to rely on. Their relatives look after them, but it is uncomfortable especially for the little girl because their aunt lacks generosity. Finally, they start living by themselves in a cave. You can imagine that it is so hard for them. However, the boy does his best and enjoys his life with his younger sister until they finish their brief lives as a firefly.

What brought me to tears is the older brother's attitude to everything. He is just 14 years old, but he tries to do well. Almost all people who live now don't know how difficult it was to live during a war and this film describes that quite clearly. The other thing I liked is a scene where they are see the fireflies. Even though they are in poverty, their smiles are glorious.

Grave of the Fireflies is a hugely touching Japanese war film and I highly recommend it if you are interested in Japanese animation films and what happened in Japan during WWII. I couldn't take my eyes off it, Sometimes it made me feel good and sometimes it made me feel miserable.