i shook Takahata sensei's hand!

Rating: 10/10 (1 November 2003)

I guess there is no need to sum up this movie again. Last year (2002) when Takahata Isao came to Paris i took a deep breath and went to him, just to have a handshake. My japanese is so poor i couldn't tell him how i loved this movie, and all the others ( yes i've seen them all, now!) how it made me cry like never before, how i will never forget the first time i watched "hotaru no haka". I just felt very stupid, but happy to "meet" him at last.
Though it's something that must have been written before, I remember some people around me found this movie horribly "pervert" and depressive. I think those people just don't want to watch the reality of war.
I'll add i really did not like Nosaka's book. Consequently i have not finished it either. Nosaka does like scandal and perversion. Here in this film only beauty and sadness remains. Sickening incestuous relation between the brother and sister is unsaid. And that's precisely what's great about Takahata. He knows perfectly how to pick up everything he needs in stories which aren't his. And this is valid for all his movies. From "jarinko chie" to "my neighbour the yamadas". Not mentioning "Only yesterday"...
Well, i wanted to do short, so please watch "grave of the fireflies" and make an opinion for yourself. Nobody will blame you if you cry enough to ruin up your tear glands...