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In the previous post I briefly described the Japanese film "Grave of the Fireflies". Today I want to add some more information about the plot. Siblings, Seita and Setsuko wander destroyed Kobe after a raid in search of their mother.They see despair, death and fire digesting the remains of the city. After finding mother, it turns out that she is in critical condition and quickly dies. Seita though hardly cope with the death of his mother, does not want to scare younger sister and because of that he hides this fact. Just as one of the protagonist of the film "La vita e' bella" Seita is doing everything to hide from Setsuko unpleasant reality of war, death, hunger and social exclusion. The boy during the war is undergoing a metamorphosis, which deprives him of his childhood, and makes him an adult, taken over the fate of his sister, the last living loved one. At the beginning they live with the distant relative, but it turns out that she uses their remaining means of living for herself, treating them badly and leaving them
enough food
only to survive. The little Setsuko quickly begins to have health problems due to poor nutrition worsening as well as her mental state. All the time she is waiting for parents that will never come back. The deteriorating financial situation and mistreatment forces Seita to flee from the house to the abandoned bunkers on the outskirts of the city. Using their last money, siblings buy tools and food necessary for survival and spends their last happy moments together in those bunkers. I think that "Grave of the Fireflies" is an amazing movie, because it can at the same time show the cruelty of war and the moments of children happiness of Seita and Setsuko. sometimes we can completely forget that the protagonists are in the middle of the war, but then, every time their happy moments are interrupted by ominous noises of bombers, which force them to continuously run for their lives. This highlights the transience of life and shows how little we need to be happy even if it is for a short time. Of course Seita and Setsuko awaits an unpleasant end, when after much suffering, sickness and starving the little girl dies. Tough living conditions, despite of all brother's efforts, ends the short life of Setsuko. Although it is likely that Seita would survive alone, after the death of sisters, he has no longer the will to live and soon joins his sister.
