relentless depression

Rating: 7/10 (10 January 2010)

This was one of the most depressing films I have seen... well in a long time and in terms of being uncompromisingly grim, possibly the most depressing ever. Even film's like Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (2000) had a glimmer of hope that things would be OK.
I loved how much an animated feature could make me feel so strongly about something and I understand that the point of this film was how relentless war is, but watching this was just like watching depression-session-misery-torture.
There was no way of it ending up with any form of hope, joy or optimism, not that I wanted it to, but I wanted to think that it could. I do not mind something not having a happy-ever-after ending, in fact I'd usually complain when things are too happy-happy but I think that the best tear-jerker moments and the ones that have the most impact are those where either unfortunate events, to a certain extent come by surprise, or more specifically that you know there could be something horrible about to happen but you are still not sure and there is still the chance of everything being alright. The shattering of this built up hope leaves you feeling more vulnerable and therefore increases the effectiveness of the narrative.
By showing you at this film's opening that the main character dies and joins his little sister in the afterlife, once his mother dies in the opening act you know there really is no way out for the doomed little boy. This does succeed at showing the uncompromising relentless nature of war but it really was tortuous and difficult to watch. In a way I admire the film's approach but at the same time I didn't really enjoy it.
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