Profoundly real... profoundly simple... profoundly human...

Rating: 10/10 (13 December 2016)

Reading Ebert's review, I was sensitive to his commentary regarding "pillow shots" as quiet moments in the film that doesn't advance the plot, but just work as punctuating marks, little pauses so we can have a breath of off-topic humanity.
Obviously, Ebert didn't grow up with Japanese anime. I did. And in the 80's and 90's animated series, many of them from the World Masterpiece Theater project, you had some peaceful moments where a character would just wash his hair or 'go to the bathroom'. It doesn't play a part to the plot, except the most essential one; making the story 'human' and seemingly devoid of narrative manipulation.
This is perhaps the most significant difference between Japanese anime and the American school, aside from the painterly backgrounds and the facial shapes. And naturally, "Grave of the Fireflies" is the perfect incarnation of these cultural differences. This is definitely not a Disney film, and this comes from a Disney fan.
I cry at Disney films, but I couldn't with "Grave of the Fireflies", there was a pain somewhere but it was just too heavy a feeling to let it flow through tears. "Grave of the Fireflies" made me sad in a way I didn't expect, silent, almost peaceful. It is a sad story, there's no doubt about it. it is probably the saddest story I ever saw in a film, and I already knew that Japanese animated series could be devastating, but the film is sad because it is real and it is simple. There's no narrative, there's life and I knew how cruel it could get.
When I saw the way Setsuko was sulking in the beginning, it immediately reminded me of my daughter, she's 3 and she makes the same facial expressions, the same grimaces. And when she wakes up in the middle of the night and yells for her Mommy, now, that too, hit a very sensitive chord. This is no Elsa and Anna playing with snow balls, this is a real teenage boy and a real little sister, the scene where they take a bath together and he catches that air bubble with a towel finished to convince me that it was going to be a very special experience.
And it says something important, it's not a film about childhood in the sense that it captures the innocence or children, but simply because it shows children who feel real: as playful, ingenuous, smart, naive and lazy as any other child in the world. And actually, the story reveals more about the cruelty of the adult world and its devastating effects on two disarmed kids. It's precisely because they're too limited as children that I somewhat "accepted" their fate.
Because the story is not about playing, it's not about the grave of the fireflies (which I supposed would play a significant part to the story), it's just about a boy trying to feed his sister. There's no trick behind it, there's no childhood symbolism, even in a great films like "Life is Beautiful", you can argue that the father is not just trying to protect his son's life, but his spirit too. In "Grave of the Fireflies", the hell with the spirit, it's about the basic need for food, survival, and if it takes bombings to set people in the shelters so Seita can steal food and clothes, so the hell with patriotism.
People invoke the motherland and patriotism, but when confronted to hunger and fraternal love, they become empty words. But the situation can be reversed, where in the name of patriotism, there's no room for sentimentality. I hated the character of the aunt but I loved her as a character. She wasn't heartless, she would've been the most lovable person in peacetime, but because of war, pity and empathy were feelings she couldn't afford, this is why she kept pressuring Seita to earn his ration of rice or couldn't stand Seitsuko's cries, that was harsh but that was realistic.
That reminded me of the scene in "Schindler's List" when a kid hides under a toilet hole, only to find other kids telling him to go to another hiding place. See, there can't be a great War film that isn't an Anti-War film, because War is simply the antithesis of humanity. That's the tragedy of Seita and Seitsuko, they're entrapped in a world where everything is to be earned, even a little girl, the purest and most fragile creature should earn her right to live, through her brother's effort, and although stealing is an option, it relies on luck until it runs out.
Sure, they love each other, but this is no Disney material, even love can't triumph over reality. Worse, the tragedy could be avoided, Seita could come back to his aunt's or go to the bank earlier. But I accept these flaws because they come from a boy who's resourceful and admirable but who has his limitations too. Sometimes, his aunts had a point and it seemed like he took it easy for a little while until it backfired at him. When he left the aunt's house, you could tell she was hurt but she had too much pride to tell them to stay. And we, as an audience, also figured that the boy would take care of his sister, but "parenting" cannot be improvised, and more than that, Seita was a child, too. He did the best he could "physically", but "mentally", he wasn't ready.
That's his tragedy. After all, we can also wonder how he ended up dying anyway after his sister. Apparently, he couldn't even find a job or maybe he just let himself die. I hate plot contrivances when they lead to a happy ending, but when they have tragic consequences, they stopped being contrived, they just illustrate the fact that life can be cruel and capricious.
Definitely not a Disney film.