Movies - Grave of the Fireflies

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Grave of the Fireflies

	Movies - Grave of the Fireflies

Grave of the Fireflies ( Hotaru no Haka) is a 1988 anime (animated) movie written and directed by Isao Takahata for Studio Ghibli. It is an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka. Many critics (most notably Roger Ebert) consider it to be one of the most powerful anti-war movies ever made. Animation historian Ernest Rister compares the film to Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List
and says, "it is the most profoundly human animated film I've ever seen."

Plot outline

Taking place towards the end of World War II in Japan, Grave of the Fireflies is the poignant tale of the relationship between two orphaned children, Seita and his younger sister Setsuko. The children lose their mother in the firebombing of Kobe, and their father in service to the Imperial Japanese Navy, and as a result they are forced to try to survive amidst widespread famine and the callous indifference of their countrymen (some of whom are their own extended family members). Ultimately both children die of starvation, and the graphic nature of their suffering and death is uniquely harrowing in the annals of anime.

The movie provides an insight into Japanese culture by focusing its attention almost entirely on the personal tragedies that wars give rise to, rather than seeking to glamorize it as an heroic struggle between competing ideologies.

In common with other Studio Ghibli productions, the movie is noteworthy for the high quality of its design and artwork.

Its initial theatrical release was accompanied by Hayao Miyazaki's much more lighthearted My Neighbor Totoro
as a double feature.

Story's Origin and Interpretations

The story is based on the semi-autobiographic novel by the same name, whose author Nosaka Akiyuki lost his sister due to malnutrition in 1945 wartime Japan. He blamed himself for her death and wrote the story so as to make amends to her and help him accept the tragedy.

Due to the graphic and truly emotional depiction of the negative consequences of war on society and the individuals therein, the film has been appropriately classified as an anti-war film, especially as we can see really no positive consequences of war in the story.

In addition to the anti-war interpretation, an alternative theory exists which is that the story illustrates the danger of pride and the actions it forces one to take. This theory has two points to support it. The first point is that Seita's fate is the result of his decision to leave the aunt's house. Nosaka's alter ego Seita has to face one crucial decision (on two occasions - when he leaves the aunt's house and when the man on the field rejects him), either stay with the wicked aunt, work, earn money and face reality or run away from reality and pretend to have control of the situation. Examining further we find that this theory holds up to scrutiny as we can see that Seita's and his sister's ultimate fate is the result of his decision to leave the aunt's house and that should they have stayed they would have most likely survived. However, ultimately Seita choses pride over reason. The second point is that when looking at the original intention of the story as being a personal apology to the author's own sister we see little intention of making the story into a treatise against war.

About the title

Japanese nouns do not change to form plurals, so hotaru can refer to one firefly or many. It may be that Setsuko is the "firefly" of the title. If so, the title can be interpreted as A Grave for a Firefly. Or to maintain the lack of distinction over plurals, The Firefly Grave could also be used. Mature fireflies which emit light have extremely short life spans of two to three weeks and are traditionally regarded as a symbol of impermanence, which resonates with much of classical Japanese tradition. Fireflies are also symbolic of the human soul ("Hitodama"), which is depicted as a floating, flickering fireball. ("Heike Hotaru", a species of firefly that exist in the Western region of Japan, is so-called because people considered their lights, hovering near rivers and lakes, to be the souls of the Heike family, all of whose members perished in a famous historic naval engagement - the Battle of Dan-no-ura.)

In the Japanese title of the movie the word hotaru (firefly) is written not with its usual kanji 蛍 but with the two kanji 火 (hi, fire) and 垂 (tareru, to dangle down, as a droplet of water about to fall from a leaf). This is intended to evoke images of fireflies as droplets of fire. Some consider that this evoke senkō hanabi {fire droplet firework, a sparkler firework which is held upside down}. Firework, in general, is considered to be another symbol of the ephemerality of life. Senkō hanabi is particular poignant in this respect because it must be held very still or the fire will drop and die, which represents the fragility of life. Senkō hanabi also evoke images of family, because it is a summer tradition in Japan for families to enjoy fireworks together. Watching fireflies is another summer family tradition. Together, the references evoke the bond between Seita and Setsuko, but at the same time emphasize their isolation due to the absence of their parents. Alternatively, pairing the two kanji for "fire" and "dangle down" may powerfully evoke the imagery of firebombing. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the Japanese during the war sometimes referred to the falling and exploding firebombs as "fireflies."

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Grave of the Fireflies ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Grave of the Fireflies; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay