Best War Pictures: 5. Grave of the Fireflies

Over twenty years Studio Ghibli has been producing high quailty animation movies that have enjoyed success all over the world but especially in Japan and was written and directed by Isao Takahata.

The story is based on the semi-autobiographic novel by the same name, whose author, Nosaka, lost his sister due to malnutrition in 1945 wartime Japan. He blamed himself for her death and wrote the story so as to make amends to her and help him accept the tragedy.

In post-World War II Japan, a janitor finds a deathly ill boy lying beside a metal candy container. The janitor unwittingly tosses the possession into the night, beginning a most unusual tale of survival set amid the atrocities of war in the Animé Grave of the Fireflies.

Brother and sister Seita and Setsuko, ages 14 and 4, flee their disheveled home and deceased parents to make their bid for a new life.

Before American troops begin to occupy their country, the children resort to dwelling in an abandoned bomb shelter in the countryside.

Though these siblings later get a sense of safety, they realize necessities such as food and water will not be easy to come by.

Grave of the Fireflies is perhaps the most famous of Studio Ghibli's movies and was directed by Isao Takahata.

While Miyazaki is famed for his depiction of war no Ghibli movie has tackled this issue with the graphic and emotional depth that Grave of the Fireflies looked at the negative consequences of war on society.

But what is so interesting about this movie is you never actually see a battle or an army, despite war being the enemy of the film, instead focusing on the effects on the countryside, which is far removed from the front line, showing the impact the war has on the ordinary person.

It's powerful message and imagery has most this movie away from merely being a cartoon but it is now considered an anti-war picture as well as one of the best war pictures to have ever been made.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw