Grave of the Fireflies

It's not Miyazaki, but it's Studio Ghibli...which we now have a subforum for, so I made a thread for this one entirely.

So, I watched Grave of the Fireflies last night, which is a Japanese animated cartoon movie about War-time victims, and it was made in 1988 with huge success.

IT WAS SOOOO DEPRESSING!!! And I loved it!

Basically, it differs from your average war move two main ways: firstly, it's in the point of view of a fourteen year-old boy and his baby sister struggling to stay alive, rather than focused on some soldier on the battle field. Secondly, it's painfully undetached, unlike in most war-theme movies. Usually you've just got the explosions and all that, and you think "wow this is horrible!", but you don't really get time for sympathy. In Grave of the Fireflies, there's no lack of horrifying things and tense scenes, but there are also bittersweet, poignant moments peppered throughout the movie that could be called happy, almost...thing is, from the chilling first line of the movie you know what's going to happen in the end, and those scenes just make it more desperate, because you start to feel for the characters and their plight.

Worst (and best) part about it is it's realistic though...take my word for it, it doesn't have a Disney ending. :=P: A factor that I really admired (this will sound kind of morbid :=P: ) was how people die in this movie: they don't get a cheesy exit line, they don't wait until their loved ones are there, they just....die. Simply die, no matter who's around and who's not. It's a painful truth that's always left out, I think. Again, it adds a certain desperation to it.

Overall, very out of character for Studio Ghibli, but they did an amazing job focusing on capturing the right emotions for the story(I know that sounds sappy, but it's important! ). Even though this is a cartoon, it's also a war story and as such is rough and raw...and doesn't leave everything to the imagination. While it's never horribly graphic, there's still some pretty disturbing imagery there.

There are also a few things that could be considered "crude" (not inappropriate, just crude), I suppose, but taking into account the situation they really just seemed...well... necessary-like? Matter-of-fact? You get what I mean. :=P: And there's some very mild language - the "D" word is used once or twice - but nothing too bad. I would give it a PG-13, I think.

Also, it might do to watch it alone. I'm glad I did, because..well...let's just say my face was kind of a mess by the end. :=P:

OH MY GOSH THAT MOVIE WAS DEPRESSING...AND AMAZING!!!

Thank you for letting me gush. Sooo...anyone seen it?

I just watched it. And it was so good...

It had to be the most depressing movie I have ever seen, but considering the theme, it could hardly be a happy movie without it being dorky.

I loved the almost Totoroish air it had, it made it so much easier to love the characters, and understand them..before they die. :=P:

While not as violent as Princess Mononoke, it was Ghibli's roughest movie I think. In Grave of the fireflies, you see disturbing images, and they really do disturb you. Probably because it's, say an injured character that you really like, (or one the main characters like). In Princess Mononoke, it's usually just a spare that never did anything in the movie. Also, Princess Mononoke is much more fantastical, you just say "well, this is just fantasy, I mean come on, nobody can shoot someone's arm/head off." but Grave of the fireflies is very realistic.

It was also very creepy, the ending especially. Thing is, you don't realize how dang creepy the beginning was until you see the end.

I normally hate war documentaries, but Grave of the Fireflies is definetly an exception.

As Michaela said, pg13 depending on the maturity of the watcher.