Grave of the Fireflies
Hotaru no haka
Japan
1988
89 Min
Hotaru no haka
Synopsis
Grave of the Fireflies opens on an evening in 1945, after Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II; and in a train station, the young Seita dies alone. The rest of the movie tells us, in flashback, how things have come to this. Seita and Setsuko are two young Japanese children growing up in the waning days of World War II. Much to Seita’s pride, their father is in the Japanese navy, and they live fairly content lives in Kobe despite rationing and the other privations of war. When their mother dies from burns suffered during an American fire-bombing raid, a distant aunt takes them in — and conflict eventually forces the children to try to survive on their own. At first, Seita and his little sister enjoy their idyllic lives in the country, but harsh reality eventually settles in as Seita begins to understand the difficulties of taking care of a young child when both food and compassion are scarce.
( From http://allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll )
Director
Isao Takahata
Isao Takahata (born October 29, 1935) is one of the most famous directors of anime, or Japanese animated films.
Born in Ujiyamada (now Ise), Mie prefecture, Japan, he is a long-term colleague of Miyazaki Hayao and co-head at Studio Ghibli. His four animated films at Studio Ghibli have spanned a remarkable range of genres: war-film (Grave of the Fireflies), romantic drama (Only Yesterday), comedy (My Neighbors the Yamadas) and ecological adventure (Pom-Poko). Of these Grave of the Fireflies, in particular, is widely considered among the greatest animated films ever made.
Graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1959, Takahata joined the newly-created Toei Douga animation company where a short time later he met Miyazaki, and also directed his first feature film Horus: Prince of the Sun. Ostracized within the company after the financial failure of the film (despite its artistic success), he and Miyazaki left in order to work together, and collaborated on many other films… read more
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Virginia Chiang
7Dec09
saw this in 4th grade on laser disc. it broke my heart. i was seriously traumatized...
Andhika Eka Buana
12Nov09
again,.a movie that tells us that war is,indeed,an unnecessary and pointless thing to do...
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Grave of the Fireflies: Painful, Thought-Provoking, Meditative, Original
By John on November 11, 2009
Animation has an ethereal power, a minimalism and essence that is unique in conveying human emotion that many film-goers deny. But when you ask anyone who has shed tears when they saw the death of… read review
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By Todd Kushigemachi on May 25, 2009
(Originally written July 11, 2008)
The tragedy of this movie is summarized by the title of the film, which refers to a young girl lamenting how fireflies have to die so quickly. However, this… read review
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