Other Titles • Grave of the Fireflies (1994) • Hotaru no haka • Tombstone for Fireflies (1994) • Tombstone for the Fireflies (1994) • Das Grab der Leuchtkäfer (1988) • Die Letzten Leuchtkäfer (1988)
Synopses for Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
1.
A Japanese boy of 14 and his 4 year old sister, attempt to find refuge from the atrocities of World War II in the small city of Kobe. In post-World War II Japan, a janitor finds beside a deathly ill boy a metal candy container. The janitor unwittingly tosses the possession into the night, beginning a most unusual tale of survival amid war. Brother and sister Seita and Setsuko, ages 14 and 4, respectively, flee their disheveled home and deceased parents to make their bid for a new life. Before American troops begin to occupy their country, the children resort to dwelling in an abandoned bomb shelter in the countryside. Though these siblings later get a sense of safety, they realize necessities such as food and water will not be easy to come by.
(19 votes)
2.
Dual Language: English & Japanese
It is post-war Japan, just weeks before the American occupation, In the city of Kobe, a boy lies in a train station. Beside his body lies a small candy container. A janitor, unsure what to make of its ashy contents, pitches it into the night. As fireflies float softly around it, the ghostly images of the boy and his little sister appear...
Flashback to a short time earlier. Orphaned and homeless from a fire-bomb attack on their city, 14-year-old Seita and his 4-year-old sister, Setsuko, set out to survive in the face of a society that is no longer able to protect them. Forced to live in an abandoned bomb shelter in the Japanese countryside, they slowly come to realize that they can never escape the hardships of war, or even find enough food to survive...
1994 First Prize as 'Best Animated Feature' at the Chicago Children's Film Festival.
(19 votes)
3.
Isao Takahata's powerful antiwar film has been praised by critics wherever it has been screened around the world. When their mother is killed in the firebombing of Tokyo near the end of World War II, teenage Seita and his little sister Setsuko are left on their own: their father is away, serving in the Imperial Navy. The two children initially stay with an aunt, but she has little affection for them and resents the time and money they require. The two children set up housekeeping in a cave by a stream, but their meager resources are quickly exhausted, and Seita is reduced to stealing to feed his sister.
The strength of Grave of the Fireflies lies in Takahata's evenhanded portrayal of the characters. A sympathetic doctor, the greedy aunt, the disinterested cousins all know there is little they can do for Seita and Setsuko. Their resources, like their country's, are already overtaxed: anything they spare endangers their own survival. As in the Barefoot Gen films, no mention is made of Japan's role in the war as an aggressor; but the depiction of the needless suffering endured by its victims transcends national and ideological boundaries. --Charles Solomon
(19 votes)
Mooviees.com is not the official site for this film.
All editorial views and opinions expressed here are for entertainment purposes only.
<>
Movie Database
In Theaters
