ElephantBoy
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Joined: 13/4/2006
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quote:
ORIGINAL: elab49
96
Grave of the Fireflies (Takahata, 1988)
After their mother dies following the fire-bombing of Kobe, Seita and Setsuko go to stay with a relative, a nippy, selfish woman. Eventually teenage Seita decides that he and little Setsuko should strike out on their own, moving to a form of shelter by the water to live with the fireflies. While fun at first, food runs out and money becomes meaningless and Seita's decision has devastating consequences.
Grave had the oddest gestation. Miyazaki wanted to get Totoro out and the way they managed was by getting support from a publishing company that wanted to get into films – with an adaptation of Grave. With the historical side of the double-bill, it meant they could sell it to schools and Totoro would benefit as a result. Has anyone tried to replicate this? I'd recommend it – and, in case you need the recommendation, Grave first then Totoro. You need a Totoro after this. Few films, animation or not, start with the death of a child in such appalling circumstances that the emotional connection is immediate. Japan seems to have long dealt with the events of WWII more overly in manga/animation than any other medium. The recent animated biography of Yoshihiro Tatsumi, a key figure in creating a genre of manga not aimed at children, traces some of the background in how animation came to be used to work through national angst. Probably the two best known animated features that deal openly with events in
Japan at the end of WWII both feature children as protagonists – Barefoot Gen, old-fashioned in terms of animation but with some horribly painful moments and this, Grave of the Fireflies (although Grave is the later film it's from an earlier work – Nosaka's source novel, an autobiography that works through his guilt over his sister's death, appeared in the late 60s and Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen started its run in 1973). The fire-bombing segments are genuinely appalling – this isn't war or domination but purely punishment. Bombing countries into submission is a common strategy, but firebombing? Cities that contain homes primarily made from flammable materials? The idea of justification baffles me.
The curious thing about Grave is that it is all about working through a deep-rooted guilt. Remember this is based on an apology – and it is Seita's decision to strike out on his own that is partly to blame for what followed. His independence, his focus on his little sister overcame common sense. But he was still a young boy, with no adult acting as a guide. And at first it seems like a big adventure – buying/finding furniture, playing on a swing, using the fireflies to light their new home. But fireflies die, after such short lives – squashed by mistake by unthinking children, and shoved into graves by a little girl who knows more than she should. So this isn't a Disney film. And when the children make decisions they don't go on celebrated adventures – they hit the real world like running into a wall. Stubbornly Seita refuses to even consider going back to what family they have – Setsuko becomes more ill, he tries to steal. But there is little hope here and the film (and presumably the book) seem very hard on Seita.
That two of my favourite animations are not entirely dissimilar is perhaps unsurprising – for all it is an apology to his little sister, the adaptation of Nosaka's work is a stark reminder of what happens after the glory and the victory of war, as is one of my choices further up this list. Grave knocked me flat the first time I saw it. I was still feeling my way through Japanese animation, learning how much I loathed a certain type of anime, but finding some real gems. Grave is, almost, the best of them.
Very good film!
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