Me
Hey guys guess who!!! Yeah I'm Mari and I'm going to discuss Grave of the Fireflies
So this was my first time seeing this movie and I cried in the first five minutes. I can't really explain why but part of it was just knowing that the characters would have to go through many hardships and that there wouldn't really be a happy ending. I felt a weird accumulation of emotions that resulted in me crying. And I think it's partially because I'm super emotional and I tend to over empathize with fictional characters.
I think it was me who was talking to Rachel about Grave of the Fireflies being something of an allegorical story in which Seita represents the Japanese government, or maybe not quite the government but the Japanese mindset. But if feel that this relationship goes farther and carries throughout the whole movie. If Seita is the government, mindset or whatever, then Setsuko represents the innocent victims who died as a result of Japan's refusal to accept defeat. When his sister is starving and sick Seita flat out won't go back to his aunt or with draw money from the bank it isn't until things escalate more that he finally humbles himself. This follows in with the Japanese concept of Bushido which is like if you lose you better have died trying. When Japan was finally invaded civilians just started committing suicide. I found this little excerpt from Goldberg's D-Day in the Pacific, "We had an LST in the water asking them not to jump. There were a lot of women and kids. They were Japanese nationals stationed on Saipan and they just committed suicide. They would throw the kids, then the wife would jump and then he would jump." (202) Also just a little note but this is just me remembering history from like seventh grade so there might be some misinformation.
There were some other things that happened in the movie that I think were important, like how Sesuko dies right when their is food. It's ironic because everything was so close to being okay and then she dies. Another thing I found interesting was when Seita finds out Japan has lost and his father is most certainly dead it's basically the same time Setsuko dies. Maybe it's a parallel of Setsuko as Japan? Or maybe I'm reading to much in.
One scene that people have brought up a few times is the scene in which Setsuko is crying after she's told she can't see her mother and Seita starts doing stuff on the high bar. I disagree with what both Greg and Rachel have said about it. Unlike Greg I feel that this scene fits really well. Sure, I won't deny that it's incredibly awkward and kind of uncomfortable to watch but grief isn't meant to be enjoyable. I also feel that scene isn't about Seita trying to console Setsuko but about Seita trying to forget and channel the pain of losing his mother into anything in order to take his mind off of it. Thus the reason why he doesn't notice that Setsuko isn't paying attention is because he isn't doing it for her, but for himself. The fact that he addresses Setsuko though shows his default response is to care for his sister.
I really liked this movie. I found the plot interesting and I thought the pacing was just fine. Though you go into the movie already knowing the outcome I wanted it to take its own sweet time getting to the point because I loved the characters. Their relationship is adorable and seeing their devotion to one another made me want to go and hug my older brother. Personally I found Setsuko to be an appealing character. I didn't think she was too annoying but maybe this is just because I'm the youngest in my family so I can relate to her. The details in this movie hit that sentimental note in me and reminded me of all the things my brother and sister did for me, these memories are also part of the reason I was crying throughout the movie. For all you older siblings you probably don't realize just how much your younger siblings look up to and idolize you.
Also Asian children are super cute
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