Grave of the Fireflies

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Audience Member EIN TASCHENTUCH BITTE Es herrscht Krieg in Japan, Familien werden auseinander gerissen und Kinder verlieren ihre Eltern. So auch Seita und seine kleine Schwester Setsuko, die viel Leid durchmachen müssen, aber sie haben immernoch einander. Doch alles ersparte, jede eiserne Ration ist irgendwann einmal aufgebraucht und der Krieg fordert das ein was unausweichlich ist. Die letzten Glühwürmchen von 1988 geht ca. 89 Minuten und ist ab 6 Jahren freigegeben. Wir haben hier ein Studio Gibli Film der uns ungeschönt und unzensiert die Gräul des Krieges zeigt. Dieses Werk ist einfach eine Wucht und gehört für mich zu denen die man mal gesehen haben sollte, denn egal wie Hart und Taff man sich gibt, am Ende verdrückt man eine Männerträne. Die Handlung zeigt unsere beiden Hauptfiguren wie sie ums Überleben kämpfen und dabei wird voll drauf gehalten, Maden kriechen über Tote, Kinder hängen über den Leichen ihrer Eltern und keine Hoffnung ist in Sicht. Auf jeden guten Moment kommen mindestens zwei Trauige, diesen beiden Kindern wird nichts geschenkt, ganz im Gegenteil. Der Look ist schlichtweg fantastisch, die Handlung durchgehend fesselnd, die beiden Kinder sind zu keinem Zeitpunkt nervig oder anstrengend sondern gut geschrieben und immer glaubwürdig. Was mir nicht gefiel war die Mutter und ihre Entscheidung zu Beginn, sowie das man im Finale, was einfach nur die Tränen in die Augen treibt, nicht nochmal den Bahnhof vom Anfang sieht. Am Ende bleibt ein Streifen der nichts beschönigt und trotz der schönen Momente zwischendurch, ist da dieses flaue Gefühl im Magen, weil man erahnt wie das ganze ausgehen wird. Von mir bekommt der Film 9/10 Punkten. In Zeiten großer Not, kann man froh sein so einen tollen Bruder an seiner Seite zu wissen. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/07/24 Full Review Audience Member One of the most devastating films ever Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/11/24 Full Review Matthew B Isao Takahata's movie is not like many of the standard anime works that people know. For one thing, it is based on events that actually happened to the writer of the original short story, Akiyuki Nosaka, albeit rendered in fictional form. There is no fantasy in this story, except perhaps the comfort of an afterlife. To call Grave of the Fireflies a realistic work may be to overstate matters. No animation can be too real, and Fireflies does not even aspire to the faux-naturalism of a Pixar or Dreamworks film. It is not made in 3D. The facial features of the characters are exaggerated – tiny mouths that suddenly open wide enough to swallow up their faces. In that sense, Fireflies is cartoonish, and closer to a Disney film. The background is often static. We see clouds of smoke that do not move. Takahata is not afraid to include moments of stillness and silence, though this is less cartoonish, since most animation relies on constant movement and sound. The realism in Fireflies comes from its content – the subject matter and the genuine emotions shown on screen. Pixar and Dreamworks may deceive us with a facsimile of a real scene, but the stories are the familiar formulaic ones located in an unreal world. In Fireflies, we see no animated toys or kung fu pandas. We will not even see the talking animals of Disney. Frogs will behave like real frogs, and dragonflies will behave like real dragonflies. At the heart of the story are two children struggling through a situation that actually happened – the horrors and privation caused by an Allied napalm attack on the Japanese city of Kobe during World War 2 – which leaves them effectively (and perhaps actually) orphans. They experience genuine and relatable emotions – anger, fear and grief. Grief might be said to be an important theme in Fireflies. The children cry often, but tears seem understandable in the circumstances. Their struggle to survive is grim, but there is no excessive sentimentality, no attempt to constantly wring the heart, and no deus ex machina to reassure us at the end. Is Grave of the Fireflies an anti-war story? It could certainly be read that way, but I think this is a simplification of the story's meaning. Nosaka was writing about his own experiences during the war. He too had to struggle for survival, and he blamed himself for his sister's death. He wrote the story in order to help himself come to terms with his loss. We do not need to be too precise in our explanations of the meaning of Grave of the Fireflies however. Stories often have an ability to transcend the precise messages that we wish to assign them. Perhaps it is more important to enjoy the beauty of this wonderful movie, and to reach greater insight through the emotions that it evokes, rather than intellectually pinning down a firm meaning behind what we see. I wrote a longer appreciation of Grave of the Fireflies on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2019/09/26/grave-of-the-fireflies-1988/ Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/24/23 Full Review Pax G Masterpiece. Cried like a bitch. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/07/23 Full Review Conta Um dos melhores filmes de todos os tempos! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/20/22 Full Review Read all reviews

Grave of the Fireflies

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