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GRAVE
OF THE FIREFLIES
AKA:
Grave Of The Fire Flies
Year:
1998 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
Anime
is a relatively unfamiliar trend for me (with the exception of
dated classics such as 'Akira' and 'Fist Of The North Star')
but with the emergence of Studio Ghibli, it seems to have
become a much more accessible genre for the casual fan like
myself. Films such as 'Spirited
Away', 'Princess
Mononoke' and 'My Neighbour Totoro' have been whipping up
a storm with the critics so when the opportunity arose to
review the lesser known 'Grave Of The Fireflies', I approached
it with eagerness and high expectations.
When
their mother is killed in an air raid, Seita and his little
sister Setsuko are forced to move in with an aunt as their
father is currently away serving with the Navy. Unfortunately
for the siblings, this proves to be an extremely unhappy
experience as their aunt is a very impatient woman who
constantly reminds the duo just what a thorn in her side they
are. Realising that they are unwanted, Seita devises a
plan for he and Setsuko to move out on their own using the
money left for them by their mother. However, moving
into the barren countryside proves to be trickier than they
first anticipated as the really valued commodity is food and
with no one to look out for them, the pair soon find the
harshness of reality catching up with them.
Although
devoid of some of Studio Ghibli's more obscure character
designs, 'Grave Of The Fireflies' serves as a fine
illustration (no pun intended) of how animation can tell
a realistic and dramatic story just as successfully as a live
action movie. Taking a relatively simple tale of
family tragedy, the film accurately depicts the horror of
being trapped within a small Japanese village at such a
harrowing time whilst simultaneously introducing interesting
and easy to warm to characters. The story also retains a
naive innocence that is aided by the use of children in the
leading roles but it does this without ever allowing you to
stray from the often catastrophic situations that they are
forced to endure. For an animation it's no mean feat to
walk such a fine line between joy and sorrow with uncanny ease
and, even though Ghibli themselves hate the comparison, this
is depth that has rarely been seen in animation outside of the
Disney hemisphere.
The
added bonus of this film being animated is that it gives the
director freedom to create his world in any manner he sees
fit. With this in mind, 'Grave Of The Fireflies' is not
only accurately modelled but also an absolute pleasure to look
at. The human characters retain the appearance seen in
prior films such as 'Spirited Away' which is definitely a
positive as they are always meticulously detailed and packed
with enjoyable facial expressions. However, it is the
backgrounds on display here that constantly amaze as they give
the audience a real sense of the countryside whilst adding
some more fantastical lighting effects (particularly those
involving the fireflies themselves) that would be extremely
difficult to reproduce in live action.
It's
easy to dismiss a title like 'Grave Of The Fireflies' simply
on the basis that's it's an animation but with a tale as
heartfelt and competently crafted as this, it's irrelevant
exactly what form it takes. This is a beautifully told
story that is wonderfully presented, making it hugely
accessible to any audience and extremely captivating
throughout.
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