A Closer Look into Grave of the Fireflies
One of Studio Ghibli's earliest films, Grave of the Fireflies takes place near the end of World War 2 and follows two orphaned siblings as they try to survive after the death of their mother.
The film opens with the death of Seita (the protagonist) at a train station. Later that evening, a janitor rummages through his things, before finding a candy tin that contains his sister Setsuko's ashes. Without any thoughts, he throws the candy tin out, releasing the spirits of Setsuko, Seita, and a group of fireflies, which kickstarts the narration of their story.
The calm introduction of the movie is contrasted by a jarring cut to the intense atmosphere at Kobe near the end of World War 2. The two siblings rush to secure their house and supplies after being alerted of the bombings. Terrifying batches of bombs are dropped in their vicinity but they remain unscathed. Their mother, however, dies at a makeshift hospital that originally was a school. After the passing of their mother, they decide to move in with their aunt.
During their stay with their aunt, they are subjected to their aunt's cruelty. Having had enough, the siblings move into an old abandoned shelter. They then release fireflies into the shelter for light after Setsuko says she's scared of the dark. The next day, Setsuko is scarred after finding that the insects have all died. She buries them all in a grave, asking why they had to die, and why her mother had to die.
Setsuko starts to starve and Seita brings her to the doctors. It's revealed that she's suffering from malnutrition. He then removes all the money from his mum's bank account to buy food for Setsuko. He comes home to find her hallucinating due to malnutrition. He hands Setsuko a watermelon to keep her full as he cooks, but she never wakes up.
We then see Setsuko having fun around the shelter: these are memories before Seita cremates her, putting her ashes in her candy tin he carries around alongside his father's photograph before his eventual passing, a few weeks later.
The movie ends with the spirits of Seita and Setsuko, looking over modern day Kobe, no longer raggedy, but healthy and well-dressed- happy as they sit together, surrounded by fireflies.
This film is one of the most heartfelt, touching, and depressing stories ever written. An adaptation of a semi-autobiographical book based on Akiyuki Nosaka's experiences before, during, and after the firebombing of Kobe in 1945, he wrote it in memory of his sister and to help him accept the tragedy, as he blamed himself for her death.
(to add more onions for your tears, he stated that the death of his sister was the exact same as the death of Setsuko)
Critics have claimed that this movie is an anti-war movie, as it depicts personal struggles and the emotional depictions of the negative consequences of war. Its director Isao Takahata has repeatedly denied this.
In his words, "[The film] is not at all an anti-war anime and contains absolutely no such message." Instead, Takahata had intended to convey an image of the brother and sister living a failed life due to isolation from society and invoke sympathy particularly in people in their teens and twenties, whom he felt needed to straighten up and respect their elders for the pain and suffering they had experienced during arguably the darkest point in Japan's history (Takahata, Isao)
The film does provide an insight into Japanese culture by focusing its attention almost entirely on personal tragedies, instead of seeking to glamorize it as a heroic struggle, which is oftentimes seen in most Hollywood war movies.
Grave of the Fireflies is particularly popular for its symbolism as well. Fireflies usually lived about 2-3 weeks, which is quite short and are seen as a symbol of impermanence. The fireflies in the movie represent Setsuko, Seita and the other children that died at a young age. The fireflies are also symbolic of the human soul and foreshadowed the siblings' death after the scene with Setsuko burying it while asking why the fireflies and her mother had to die.
In the movie, Setsuko mentions that the bombs look like fireflies. The haunting symbol of firebombs that wrecked the children's city was disguised and perceived by a little kid to look like a firefly. A recent observation by fans of the movie was that the 'fireflies' on the poster of the movie were really shards and sparks from the bombs from a B29.
Let's dig deeper into the meaning behind Grave of the Fireflies. Here's an insight into the duality of Setsuko and Seita.
Setsuko is the image of innocence and childhood purity because she doesn't understand the conflict around her. Her imagination and creativity never falter, through the ups and down. She is a rather bold portrait of the horrors of war as it impacts the guiltless.
Seita, on the other hand, is somewhat obsessed with his own pride and Japanese nationalist sentiment. We see flashbacks where he wears a military uniform and duplicates the posture of his military father. He clearly aspires to become like his father, to join the military one day, and to be a contributor to society.
Many of Seita and Setsuko's troubles are usually because of people's unwillingness to lend a hand to those around them, with their focused on self-preservation instead of the community and human decency that are necessary in tough times.
Their aunt is an example we see clearly throughout the movie. When the children first show up, she seems warm and welcome to their presence. But after the aunt can find no more self-benefitting use of them, she begins to turn on them. Her cruelty was so bad, it led to the siblings leaving her.
Philosophy in Films continues, "While Japanese culture in 1945 did promote concepts of community and the strength of the whole, it also ingrained concepts of blind nationalism and militarism into the minds of its people. Seita's dreams of joining his father in battle reflect a 'national fantasy of war' that blinded him to the needs of his sister and community at large. Takahata criticizes these jingoistic ideals of Japanese society and the lasting effects that these ideals had on Japanese survivors. In this way, the film simultaneously portrays the Japanese people as victims and as active participants in the war. While the people are victims of nationalistic propaganda and wartime violence, they are also partly responsible for wartime atrocities through their abandonment of communal ideals and their selfishness masked by nationalistic fervor. This selfishness is most evident in Seita's brief interactions with adults during the film. When Seita sneaks into a village to steal food, he is caught and thrown in jail. No one is interested in listening to his story because they are all struggling to survive. The civilian victims suffer more due to their change from communalism to selfish survivalism" (Saporito, Jeff).
Seita puts his own faith in the military by assuming his father and his fellow soldiers will win the war, return home, and take care of everything. He was wrong. By the time he realizes his faith in the war effort was misplaced, it's too late: Setsuko is too malnourished, and she dies of starvation. One way or another, Seita soon follows.
Grave of the Fireflies condemns the idea of people putting blind faith in patriotism. Seita was so deluded with the idea that he lived in an infallible world that he watches his sister, his greatest love, wither away without realizing time was running out.
In conclusion, this film is a must watch if you're in for a good cry and a reminder of the ephemerality of life and the need to appreciate your family before it's too late. Grave of the Fireflies provides a refreshing concept of personal tragedy in contrast to the usual action-style movies which revolve around a war hero that's going to save the day. The personal relationship between the characters and audience is more evident here than in action movies that dominate the film industry.
