Grave of the Fireflies is a movie about the struggle for survival in Japan during World War II. The story follows a young boy named Seita and his little sister Setsuko. In the opening scene you are shown that this movie is not going to have a happy ending. The scene shows Seita sitting against a post in a train station just after the war is over. He is looking worn out and staring blankly at the ground. Everyone walking around the station either ignores him or tells him to get a job. It then skips to later that night when the workers are cleaning the floors at which point Seita falls over dead. This seemed to be a common occurrence during this time as the workers were not shocked by this at all. One of the workers inspected him and picked up a tin container with some sort of "powder" inside that Seita was holding. The worker then threw the tin outside at which point you see the ghost of a little girl and the recently deceased boy picking up the can. Now knowing what happens to the characters in the end the film goes back to show the events that led to this point. In the next seen you see Seita franticly trying to bury some food while loud sirens can be heard. His sister, Setsuko, and his mother are their appearing very calm even though the sirens are sounding. His father is away on a navy ship fighting in the war. The mother then heads out to the bomb shelters while Seita finishes burying food. Once he is finished he puts Setsuko o
n his back and starts to run to the shelters, but the moment he steps outside his house he sees the planes overhead dropping incendiary bombs. All the buildings around start to catch fire as he runs to get out of the city. The two of them make it out but their home and most of the city is burned to the ground. They then go to a schoolhouse where people are being treated after the attack at which point they learn their mother was severely burned. Their aunt takes them into her house while their mother is readied to be taken to a hospital. Unfortunately before their mother can be moved to the hospital she dies leaving them to stay with the aunt. At first living with their aunt worked out fine. As time went on however she started getting annoyed at Seita because he was old enough to work but was doing nothing but goofing off with
Setsuko all day. Their aunt kept criticizing them until they decided they have had enough and left to go live in one of the bomb shelters. This was working well for them until they started running out of food. Food during this time was being rationed and not even farmers had enough to sell to people. Setsuko was starting to develop rashes and getting sick due to malnutrition. Becoming desperate Seita started sneaking into farms to steal food from their fields. He was eventually caught by a farmer and after the confrontation decided he was not going to steal from farms again. However still needing food in order to help his little sister he decides to take a very dangerous route to get food. He starts running into towns during bombings to grab whatever food he can find while everyone else was fleeing. Later he manages to make it to a bank where he withdrawals money from his mother’s account to buy food. While at the bank he overhears people people saying the war is over and mentions that all their navy ships were sunk including Seita‘s father‘s ship. He is crushed after learning this but knows he needs to get food and bring it back to Setsuko so that she can get better. Regrettably, with all the food Seita is able to get, Setsuko continues to get worse until she ultimately dies in her sleep. This was the most heartbreaking moments of the movie. At this point you could tell Seita had been
broken as he does not smile again and barely speaks. Seita does a ritual cremation for Setsuko on top of a hill near the shelter they had stayed in. Afterwards he put her ashes in a tin that used to contain fruit drops that Setsuko liked a lot. He stated he never returned to that spot until the final scene in which you see the ghosts of Seita and Setsuko sitting together at the top of that hill.
This movie was a great, although depressing, movie showing the struggles that civilians in Japan were going through during World War II. They had to cope with constant threat of bombing attacks. Many had lost their homes as well as friends and family members. Food was scarce and medical treatment was not easy to get. This film captured the fear, sadness, and desperation that people were going through during this time of war.
n his back and starts to run to the shelters, but the moment he steps outside his house he sees the planes overhead dropping incendiary bombs. All the buildings around start to catch fire as he runs to get out of the city. The two of them make it out but their home and most of the city is burned to the ground. They then go to a schoolhouse where people are being treated after the attack at which point they learn their mother was severely burned. Their aunt takes them into her house while their mother is readied to be taken to a hospital. Unfortunately before their mother can be moved to the hospital she dies leaving them to stay with the aunt. At first living with their aunt worked out fine. As time went on however she started getting annoyed at Seita because he was old enough to work but was doing nothing but goofing off with
Setsuko all day. Their aunt kept criticizing them until they decided they have had enough and left to go live in one of the bomb shelters. This was working well for them until they started running out of food. Food during this time was being rationed and not even farmers had enough to sell to people. Setsuko was starting to develop rashes and getting sick due to malnutrition. Becoming desperate Seita started sneaking into farms to steal food from their fields. He was eventually caught by a farmer and after the confrontation decided he was not going to steal from farms again. However still needing food in order to help his little sister he decides to take a very dangerous route to get food. He starts running into towns during bombings to grab whatever food he can find while everyone else was fleeing. Later he manages to make it to a bank where he withdrawals money from his mother’s account to buy food. While at the bank he overhears people people saying the war is over and mentions that all their navy ships were sunk including Seita‘s father‘s ship. He is crushed after learning this but knows he needs to get food and bring it back to Setsuko so that she can get better. Regrettably, with all the food Seita is able to get, Setsuko continues to get worse until she ultimately dies in her sleep. This was the most heartbreaking moments of the movie. At this point you could tell Seita had been
broken as he does not smile again and barely speaks. Seita does a ritual cremation for Setsuko on top of a hill near the shelter they had stayed in. Afterwards he put her ashes in a tin that used to contain fruit drops that Setsuko liked a lot. He stated he never returned to that spot until the final scene in which you see the ghosts of Seita and Setsuko sitting together at the top of that hill.This movie was a great, although depressing, movie showing the struggles that civilians in Japan were going through during World War II. They had to cope with constant threat of bombing attacks. Many had lost their homes as well as friends and family members. Food was scarce and medical treatment was not easy to get. This film captured the fear, sadness, and desperation that people were going through during this time of war.
Additional Information
http://www.shvoong.com/humanities/794655-grave-fireflies/ - Summery and review.
I feel like this movie and others depicitng the Japanese side of World War 2 are incredibly valuable, especially to Americans. In all of our depictions of the war, Japan is viewed as the enemy. While dropping the nuclear bomb on their country seemed like a victory for the Americans and their allies, I think we also need to remember the innocent civilians in Japan whose lives were turned upside down. I would love to watch a film depicting Japanese views and opinions during World War 2 in order to better understand their perspectives.
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