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Hotaru no Haka (1988)

Animation | 89 minutes
3,90 1.389 votes

Genre: Animation / War

Duration: 89 minuten

Alternative titles: Grave of the Fireflies / 火垂るの墓

Country: Japan

Directed by: Isao Takahata

Stars: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi and Yoshiko Shinohara

IMDb score: 8,5 (375.631)

Releasedate: 16 April 1988

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Hotaru no Haka plot

"Why do fireflies have to die so soon?"

Seita and Setsuko are brother and sister during World War II in Japan. After their father is killed in an overseas battle and their mother is killed by an air raid, they must turn to other relatives for support. If at some point that support is also taken away from them, they will only be dependent on each other to provide shelter and food.

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Full Cast & Crew

Actors and actresses

Seita (voice)

Setsuko (voice)

Mother (voice)

Auntie (voice)

Woman who takes care of Setsuko (voice)

Obayashi Chairman (voice)

Cousin (voice)

Gosaku (voice)

Aunt's House Guest (voice)

Patrolman (voice)

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avatar van Movsin

Movsin

  • 8264 messages
  • 8426 votes

Amazed to find the raw, penetrating cruelty of war in an animation, delighted with the tenderness conveyed in this simple, yet virtuoso film.
The tenacity in which the boy takes pity on his little sister and keeps her away from the true drama that took place is certainly touching. Only one is the scene where the girl declares that her mother is dead and buried, while the boy thought her ignorant about this. And there are a few others.
Film also appropriately illustrates how in difficult times, such as war, people start to behave differently and that very often their true nature comes out.
A little pearl, this "Grave of the Fireflies".

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Chainsaw

Chainsaw

  • 8845 messages
  • 3576 votes

I remember the first time I saw Grave of the Fireflies: I could do nothing but stare perplexed at my television for half an hour, where the DVD menu had been visible for some time. I had first been introduced to the Studio Ghibli films not long before and started with the more famous works like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. And then this came. And damn, this is of a different caliber. Hayao Miyazaki's work may be Ghibli's best-known work, but in my opinion Isao Takahata has produced by far the most beautiful and moving Ghibli film to date.

And when revised - years later - it happened again. I was out of the world for an hour and a half. I enjoyed when Seita and Setsuko had fun, the optimism and how the two are doing their best together to make something beautiful is a good feeling. And you really need that good feeling to get through the film. Because my god, a sledgehammer gives a subtle tap compared to this movie. The animations are wonderful, the music is very strong, the atmosphere is sometimes enchantingly beautiful and sometimes (or should you say, regularly) rock hard. I could name a specific scene or a particular beautiful shot here, but I might as well list the entire movie here. Grave of the Fireflies is in a league of its own.

5 stars. Because it can't get any higher.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van N00dles

N00dles

  • 627 messages
  • 2302 votes

I saw Grave of the Fireflies a long time ago (in 2003) and then I thought it was good, but not great, because (as I wrote somewhere) "I was missing a story". Two years later I gave him 'only' a 3.5* on MM.

Now after 16 years I've re-watched the film and I have to say, I'm a lot more positive about it than then. The heartbreaking story of the two children just touches you and the endearing Setsuko in particular is convincingly portrayed in both her behavior and animation.

Like other Ghibli's from the 80s (Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro) the atmosphere is sublime. The rural scenes, against the background of the end of the Second World War, the fireflies, the villages. It's the little things that 16 years later I appreciate much more.

In fact, this film belongs in my Ghibli top 5 as far as I'm concerned.

That's why a big point raised to 4.5 *

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original