Beautiful and terrifyingly honest

Rating: 9/10 (26 July 2019)

Grave of the Fireflies is not a children's movie, as it isn't your usual feelgood animation. Featuring the bombings of Japan during WWII, the topic really does seem rather mature. However, it is neither aggressive nor excessively bloody or judgemental in its pursuit to provide a glimpse into the lives of two children affected by the war. I do think it is sad and haunting, it truly is, and its message is powerful - but it doesn't showcase drama, it doesn't rely on brutality and gore, and despite its anti-war moral, it doesn't rub it in your face. The setting of bombs dropping form the sky, war sirens sounding every now and then, houses burning and corpses scattered around the rubbles of former homes creates a bleak and hopeless atmosphere, but the movie doesn't focus on it. It merely portrays the surroundings and doesn't linger on unnecessary violence or gratuitous depictions of gore. If anything, it is the subtlety of the imagery that makes it so touching and utterly beautiful.
Grave of the Fireflies portrays the life of two orphaned children dealing with the sorrows and hardships of war. Their father in the navy (doomed to die), the mother fatally injured by a previous bombing, they make their way to their aunt, who only reluctantly agrees to take them in. Until the older brother (Seita) decides that they will now take care of themselves, as they are obviously a burden to their aunt, constantly complaining about how scarce the food has gotten and how useless and how much of a pain the two children are. And so, they settle down and make a home in a nearby abandoned shelter out by the lake, trying to get by.
This movie presents us with the side of war that no one cares to show, the silent battle for survival viewed from a perspective that is so naïve that its honesty cannot be denied. It features the love of a brother for his much younger sister and how it prevails, despite the slow but steady physical decline of the siblings. We get to observe them how they find happiness and joy in the smallest of things, even though they get more and more worn down by the toll that constant starvation and homelessness takes on them.
The fact that they both die is made clear at the very beginning of this movie, it is only what happens during the time leading up to this event that we do not know for sure. Oddly enough, one may easily forget the looming fate when we follow the 4 year old Setsuko chasing butterflies or the older brother Seita crafting a swing for his sister. Sometimes, these serene moments between the siblings in the wonderfully animated rural parts of Japan seem so out of place that one dares to hope that maybe there is a happy ending awaiting them, despite knowing for certain that there isn't. When they cook and eat food together, so very happily, without a concern in the world, it is both heart-warming and gut-wrenching, because we as spectators know that there may be no food left tomorrow. Seita's selfless care for his sister and her gratefulness and childish glee are what make this movie beautiful instead of "just" sad. They aren't prepared for the tough conditions and dangers of having no one to rely on. They aren't wise beyond their age and they can't miraculously overcome any obstacle. The children behave exactly as you would expect of a teenager having to shoulder much more than he is capable of and a toddler who doesn't grasp the severity of their situation.
Despite the subtle imagery that doesn't shove the drama in your face, there are certain plot developments that just tear at the heartstrings. Setsuko's sickness that eats away at her fragile body and diminishes her cheerful spirit is painful to watch. Especially, if we remember a previous scene, where Setsuko digs a grave for the short-lived fireflies they caught the night before, asking her brother just why they burn out so fast. The analogy between the firefly whose light slowly dims and whose body eventually drops dead is a cruel analogy to what is going to happen to these children. Burning bright until the light fades, withering away all too soon. And Setsuko's naïve heart and unfiltered emotions make it all the more obvious just how different of a perspective she has and how much pressure Seita must be feeling, being utterly helpless despite having to and desperately wanting to provide for the both of them. His suffering is silent, but certainly not any less painful, because he is not gifted with the bliss of childlike ignorance.
And then the time comes, and Setsuko draws her last breath, because her tiny body is too weak to go on. In her very last moments, she still weakly encourages her brother to eat some rice balls (stones) while chewing on some candy (a glass button) and Seita realizes that her innocent mind tried to deceive her into a state of play-pretend that wasn't as hopeless, where they still had food. After Setsuko's death and subsequent cremation, the story slowly comes to a close. Not everything is answered at the end. We don't know how or why Seita ended up at the train station in the city, but it isn't really important either. When his spirit leaves his body, a lifeless boy leaning against a cold pillar next to a bunch of other lifeless children, one may actually be rather glad that he doesn't have to suffer any longer. And the last image of Seita and Setsuko sitting on a bench, looking out towards the shimmering city lights, takes away some of the sadness of an otherwise depressing ending. For at least now they are both free and united once again.
During this whole movie, I never had the feeling that there was any anti-America propaganda. Grave of the Fireflies didn't pick a side, didn't judge or condemn. It just showed the implications of war on a very small scale through the eyes of two children, with wonderfully intricate animation and sometimes trivial but authentic moments, reminding us that it affects people and lives away from the battlefield. The movie is honest and very subtle, and its humbleness is much more touching than any other war themed movie relying on drastic imagery to get its message across. If anything, Grave of the Fireflies points out that it doesn't matter who makes war against who and who drops the bombs, war will always cause suffering, leaving innocent people helpless and exposed to its aftermath. Just like these two children who deserved so much better, trying to live and not just survive, refusing to give up - but whose lives were ultimately snuffed out, despite all their effort, because the world is only as good as we allow it to be.