A truly great film

Rating: 10/10 (15 April 2007)

In a time when Disney and Pixar milk false sentiment for all its worth, here is a film which delivers not sentimentality, but truth. The characterisation of the little girl is charming: cute but intensely realistic. The film grips with its depiction of the aftermath of a fire bombing and has a political sub-theme but it is the little girl who is our real concern. We laugh with her, fear for her - and ultimately despair with her. The ending is gut-wrenching - one of the most moving endings my family has ever seen ..... my 20 year old son had to leave the room! If you watch only one film about war, watch this.
Whilst the art work is deceptively simple it easily surpasses modern animation and clearly paved the way for films like 'Spirited Away'. Unlike most Japanese films the narrative is easy to follow and (rare in Japanese animation) never strays into fantasy or surrealism. The countryside is beautiful and is clearly intended to be seen in juxtaposition to the depiction of the damage war does. Part of that damage is also human: we see people degenerate and become selfish, desperate and de-sensitised but the little girl remains somehow spiritually untarnished ..... but not physically so.