GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES

"Grave of the Fireflies belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made."
-- Roger Ebert

"Grave of the Fireflies is the Schindler's List of anime... It is the most profoundly human animated film I've ever seen."
-- Ernest Rister


As EV asked me if there's any good movies beside Schindler's List that I can borrow her, a long list of movie titles juz appeared in my mind - and of them is Grave of the Fireflies. Only that it is an animated film!

Having reminded (unintentionally) about the movie, I was suddenly compelled to watch it again, for the third time... And now, I juz did, and guess what? I still sobbed at the end of the movie! The whole show is juz so heart-breaking. It tells a tale of how 2 children- Seita, a 14-year-old-boy, and Setsuko, Seita's 4-year-old sister, struggle to survive when their home and parents were destroyed by the war. It started off full with hope and optimism, but gradually reduced into suffering and despair as the story progresses. It also shows how pride and ego can destroy all the things that we've laboured so much to protect, and how war can causes one to lose his innocence. The very 1st line of the movie says a lot about how the movie will proceed already:

September 25, 1945. That was the night that I died.

Nevertheless, as depressing as the movie is, I truly appreciate the all the little moments of joys and triumphs the children have amidst their struggle. How they found the "treasure trove" of "luxurious" food buried at their backyard, how they enjoyed themselves at the beach, and how they caught the fireflies and set them loose inside their mosquito net... Yet no matter how wonderful all the short moments are, they eventually end... in tragedy. Little Setsuko described it most appropriately in one of her lines, "Why do fireflies have to die so soon?"

The is definitely one of the best and most moving movie I've watched, and frankly there is no other movie that moves me as much as this does (with the exception of The Passion of The Christ). I definitely recommended this movie to everyone, so that all will know wat war truly is - hell...