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Grave of the Fireflies

Hotaru no haka

Japan

1988

89 Min

Color

1.85:1

Japanese

Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
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SCR Isao Takahata, Akiyuki Nosaka

CAST Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara, Akemi Yamaguchi

ANIM Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Hane, Iku Ishiguro, Kuniyuki Ishii, Megumi Kagawa, Hideo Kawauchi, Masuji Kigami, Yoshifumi Kondô, Kitaro Kosaka, Noriko Moritomo, Hiroshi Ogawa, Toshiyasu Okada, Reiko Okuyama, Shunji Saida, Akio Sakai, Michiyo Sakurai, Noboru Takano, Yasuomi Umetsu, Shôjurô Yamauchi, Atsuko Ôtani, Noriko Ôzeki

SOUND Noriyoshi Oohira, Hisanori Ooshiro, Yasuo Uragami

Locarno (Manga Impact)

Synopsis

In the aftermath of a World War II bombing, two orphaned children struggle to survive in the Japanese countryside. To Seita and his four-year old sister, the helplessness and indifference of their countrymen is even more painful than the enemy raids. Through desperation, hunger and grief, these children’s lives are as heartbreakingly fragile as their spirit and love is inspiring. Grave of the Fireflies is a tale of the true tragedy of war and innocence lost, not only of the abandoned young, but of an entire nation. —Central Park Media

Director

Isao Takahata

Isao Takahata (born October 29, 1935) is one of the most famous directors of anime, or Japanese animated films.

Born in Ujiyamada (now Ise), Mie prefecture, Japan, he is a long-term colleague of Miyazaki Hayao and co-head at Studio Ghibli. His four animated films at Studio Ghibli have spanned a remarkable range of genres: war-film (Grave of the Fireflies), romantic drama (Only Yesterday), comedy (My Neighbors the Yamadas) and ecological adventure (Pom-Poko). Of these Grave of the Fireflies, in particular, is widely considered among the greatest animated films ever made.

Graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1959, Takahata joined the newly-created Toei Douga animation company where a short time later he met Miyazaki, and also directed his first feature film Horus: Prince of the Sun. Ostracized within the company after the financial failure of the film (despite its artistic success), he and Miyazaki left in order to work together, and collaborated on many other films… read more

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Nick Papa Giorgio

23Apr13

The Superb masterpiece movie i've ever seen in my life.. Mr. Takahata, i saluted for giving us one of best movie. U know i already 35 yrs old, i've ready see so many movies from all over countries in my life but i never see this kind of movie because it's make me cry always when i think about the movie...I know this is movie but when both of the kids dead, i feel why not The God help them??

Ingrid Bergman

22Apr13

A very moving story, so beautifully told.

Howard Orr

9Apr13

Unflinching examination of the effects of war, and the emphasis on the effect on people's spirits and goodwill stings far more than the depiction of the torment wrought on their bodies. Plus, it is a superbly balanced and scored film, with a strong element of elegy to match the horror. And the "There's No Place Like Home" sequence is one of the most devastatingly sad things ever put on film.

Trolley Freak

8Apr13

Originally released on a double bill with Miyazaki's gorgeously cute My Neighbor Totoro, you could not wish for a greater contrast than this harrowing story in which orphaned siblings struggle to survive alone in the last months of World War II. Takahata illuminates this masterpiece with moments of sheer beauty but on the whole it is brutal and unbearably poignant; in fact, I'm not sure I could sit through it again..

jyan frança and 2 others like this

Gylfi, LoverofLeCinema

LoverofLeCinema

8Apr13

Not sure I'll watch it again, either.
Gylfi

11Apr13

This and My Neighbor Totoro as a double bill ? Wow, that would have been quite a mindfuck :D I agree with you, I have little desire to see this masterpiece again...

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Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.

Review: HOTARU NO HAKA (Personal Favorites #33)

By Twitchfilm.com on July 26, 2012

Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies) is a very depressing film. So much in fact that Ghibli made an entirely new film (Tonari no Totoro) to cushion the blow upon its release. They even packaged it as

→ read on Twitchfilm.com

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No seio da tragédia, também há espaço para os pequenos sorrisos.

By João Pedro Tomás on November 19, 2012

No seio da tragédia, também há espaço para os pequenos sorrisos.

Somos tantos, num mundo de largas dimensões, que tenta subsistir, às vezes aos encontrões, ainda que, tais encontrões… read review