Most powerful anti-war film you will ever see

Rating: 10/10 (16 October 2013)

The movie begins showing a hungry, malnourished, poverty stricken boy suffering a slow, painful death. After he passes away, a janitor comes and strips his belongings from his deceased body, and throws them into an overgrown field. The ghost of a cute, young girl appears and takes the hand of a healthy, clean version of the boy who just passed away. The movie cuts, and we see them taking a train to a better land. It is made obvious right in the beginning that both characters die. This leads some people to say "Well what's the point of watching? We know what happens in the end." That's not the point of the movie. The point of the movie is to show the story of these two young children struggling through difficult lives. While there is hope for a happy ending, we hope that the characters have easy, pain free lives. It's the same idea for us. We all know we will eventually die, but we try to make our lives as easy, and pain free as we can.
This movie breaks the stereotype of "Oh, this movie is animated, so yeah, while it might be moving, it's going to stay within safe confines." This is usually the case because animation is seen as a childish medium, which is why so many kids' movies are animated. While these kids' movies might have moving scenes and teach valuable lessons, as I said earlier, it's going to stay within safe confines. This movie can easily be mentioned in the same breath as other great war movies such as Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, and Full Metal Jacket. It's just a beautiful piece of art that's moving and powerful, but it just happens to be animated.
This movie conveys a very powerful anti-war message without completely shoving the idea down your throat. It tells the non sugar coated story of two young children made homeless and struggling to survive after air raids in World War II. Although the characters are fictional, it's based on the true story of the writer of the graphic novel the movie is based off of; Akiyuki Nosaka. It's obvious that director Isao Takahata resents the war, but he provides a strong anti war message without forty minutes of bloody, gory violence. Believe it or not, there are still children who live this way nowadays, we just don't see it on the news.
Very few movies can make me genuinely care for a character. In this case, you do care for the characters in the movie. You hope for the best for these two innocent children. In most movies nowadays, you see young characters acting much older than they really are. We all know that movie with the four year old character that's sassy, smart, and mature. But in this movie, that's not the case at all. Setsuko acts like a four year old in real life would act, and her role is executed to near perfection. From her motions to her dialogue, you see can see very clearly the four year old in her. As for Seita, his role is executed greatly as well. He makes the mistakes a fourteen year old boy in that situation probably would, his mindset is that of a fourteen year old, his decisions, which are sometimes good and sometimes bad, are that of a fourteen year old. The beautiful thing about this movie is when Seita makes mistakes; you understand it, because you know that everybody makes mistakes because we're human. The character development in this movie is also top notch. We see Seita go from a normal teenager with a positive outlook on life to a poverty stricken teenager with still a positive outlook on life, but now he realizes how much his sister really means to him. We see Setsuko go from a happy, sweet, innocent four year old girl to a confused, poverty stricken, malnourished child.
The next point I would like to touch on is the appearance and the effects for this movie. The animation in this movie is an art, it's stunning. The animation shows the setting in a way that real life movies just can't. From the urban environments to the fields and rivers of the wild, the animation is beautifully done. The next thing is the soundtrack. I don't have much to say about it, but they used music very well. They used music very sparingly and when they did use it, they used it at perfect times.
To me, the theme of this movie is friendship, love, and caring for others. Its love story, but not Hollywood style; members of the opposite sex attracted to each other, looking for love in a romantic sense. In this movie, it's more "brotherly" love. The movie makes you aware of how good your life is compared to some people around the world. It made me aware of my sometimes selfish ways, it made me think about all the times in my life where I had the opportunity to help people, but I didn't. It makes me realize how much I take my sister for granted, and how fleeting life can be. One day, you're just fine, and the next day you can be struggling to survive. Most of all, it made me realize that life can slip away from you any moment, and to live every day like it's you're last.
In conclusion, Grave of the fireflies is a very beautiful movie that succeeds in ways some American war movies simply don't. It teaches you so many valuable lessons. It's one of the most underrated movies of all time. It's one of the few movies that changed my life, and one of the few movies that had me holding back tears at the end. This is a must see movie that will change your life. 10/10 One of the most moving, beautiful movies of all time.