Research: Grave of the Fire Flies
Case study: Grave of the Fire Flies
Storyline: Grave of the Fireflies” (1988) is an animated film telling the story of two children from the port city of Kobe, made homeless by the bombs. Seita is a young teenager, and his sister Setsuko is about 5. Their father is serving in the Japanese navy, and their mother is a bomb victim; Seita kneels beside her body, covered with burns, in an emergency hospital. Their home, neighbors, schools are all gone. For a time an aunt takes them in, but she’s cruel about the need to feed them, and eventually Seita finds a hillside cave where they can live. He does what he can to find food, and to answer Setsuko’s questions about their parents. The first shot of the film shows Seita dead in a subway station, and so we can guess Setsuko’s fate; we are accompanied through flashbacks by the boy’s spirit.
Objective: Death
Isao Takahata shows us the humble opposite, that when times are tough what you need most is humility, patience and self-restraint. That's how one survives. This story remains relevant today because of that fact alone. It tells about the failure of heroism and nobility in desperate circumstances.
Death is a common occurence in the film, it happens all around the children and even impacts them directly. Seita and Setsuko’s mother was caught in a bombing that left her completely burned. The result was an unrecognizable body that a teenage Seita looked upon in horror. The film didn’t hold back in its imagery of death, with the body’s visible parts being swollen, red and blue, and hastily applied bandages painting an image of intense pain. Seita witnessed the disposal of his mother, and the new responsibility of caring for his sister. I saw this young teenage boy look upon his deceased mother without shedding a tear. I saw this young teenage boy look upon his deceased mother without shedding a tear. I saw this newly orphaned four year old girl never seeing her mother again, and keeping her thoughts to herself about her mothers death. This was shown when the next day, Setsuko is horrified to find that the insects have died. She buries them in a grave, asking why they and her mother had to die. This is when seita finds out that the lady told her. In seeing these things I couldn’t help but think of the source of this suffering, the bombs, their carrier, and the cause. War.
Death shows its ugly face again many times throughout the film. One such time was the interruption of a beautiful scene where Seita and Setsuko were having a moment of reprieve at the beach, the young Setsuko comes upon a dead person telling Seita she found someone asleep. I saw this as a symbol that the children can’t escape the harsh realities of the war. The moments of happiness are far and in between, and usually interrupted by the all too familiar sound of the raid sirens.
The Message?
The true focus of the film, or at least the intended message is not about war. It is about Seita and his younger sister Setsuko. Their relationship and struggles due to failing to cooperate with others and attempting to leave society are what was meant to be considered by the audience. The perceived notion of the film presenting war as a destructive force and an ender of innocence is a noble one, but the director doesn't see this that way. No matter how noble, the anti-war message is still political and ruins the innocence established. Furthermore, anything political can be misconstrued. War being started in the name of maintaining peace being the direct example. Me being too caught up in the emotional impact of the film, I missed this point by focusing on how it could have been prevented. Looking into the origins of the film and the creator’s influences gave me a better understanding.
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