HeavenlyCreatures
Grave of the fireflies is a heart wrenching inspiring film that may leave you feeling both dead and alive once you have watched it. With a realistic portrayal of the destruction of war and bombing and what it causes and how it tears happy families apart. Grave of the fireflies portrays two beautiful life's torn into one million beautiful pieces. You must watch this film.
jon_margetts
There's always something so disarming about Ghibli movies. I put it down to the natural pace of storytelling. The studio is uncompromising in its decision to never spell things out for the audience too much. The pride of Seita, for example, and the tragedy in his refusal to return to his Aunt, leading to the demise of Satsuko. There's no big fanfare surrounding this, just a simple narrative achieved through straightforward dialogue and action. It doesn't sugarcoat Seita's decision, and therefore does not justify it. Like many pieces of art, there is no conscious design upon the audience, and that allows one to sympathise with all characters involved. Themes (such as war) are fully three-dimensional: the honour, the spectacle, and the crushing despair following Japan's unconditional surrender are all given equal weighting. A glorious film, all in all.
habib_khodadad
This is an animated movie that successfully captures the effect of war on an emotional level usually not depicted by war movies. There are many moments which move you to tears, and there are also moments of hope and happiness which provide brief lapses from the sorrow that permeates a war-torn world. Characters are designed to speak to the audience on an emotional level, as they struggle to survive the mayday of WWII. Though the war has already taken away everything such as family and security, the two characters revel in the joy of being alive. They scrap up any morsel of hope left as they go on an escapade through the war zones, looking for food and a roof to survive the days of restless violence. This movie is fastidious in elucidating the elements that make us human, the desire to live and the desire to love, and it does so in a tumultuous backdrop of WWII. What better way to grab the attention and the heartstrings of people than to provide the audience a glimpse into the daily life of two people living in times of war, a child resembling purity and innocence and an older brother tasked with protecting him from the horrors wrought by the war.
ignatzb
This is quite possibly the saddest movie ever made. It is, however, worth seeing once, particularly if you were not involved in your sister's death. I will never watch it again, but I'll set it up for you to run if you stop by some time. It is about a young brother and sister who are made homeless by allied bombing of Japan in WWII. They are taken in by a relative but with times being hard they leave there to strike out for themselves and for a while they get along all right until things get really bad and they get really hungry. At that time, when there is nothing left to do but steal things turn worse and worse.The film pulls no punches about the trials of the children. It's rough.
AD
