I’d heard wonderful things about this movie but I’d never seen it, so last week I picked up the DVD.
Friday night I put it in the player. Five minutes into the movie and I was already sobbing. The joy on the face of the Setsuko’s ghost when she was reunited with her brother broke me up completely.
I couldn’t watch the whole thing straight through – it was just too painful. Particularly haunting is the sequence after Setsuko dies when they show little vignettes of her playing by herself in the bomb shelter – making mud pies, sweeping the dirt floor with her doll strapped to her back.
I’m still trying to gear up my courage so I can watch it through in its entirety.
I thought ‘Life is Beautiful’ was pretty sad, though I haven’t seen ‘Grave of the Fireflys’ yet. Probably wouldn’t bother me as much as I don’t really like children.
Badtz, this film will break your heart & drive you first to tears, & then to your knees if you are anything other than a sociopath.
Whether you like kids or mot.
Yes. Yes it is the saddest movie ever. Absolutely. I’m all psyched about the collector’s edition, because I last saw it about three years ago and I think maybe I have the emotional fortitude built up to watch it again. Anybody who dosen’t cry at it isn’t a human being and is not welcome in my home.
I didn’t cry until the end, but I knew it was coming. It’s so sad precisely because it’s so good - it isn’t manipulative, it’s just intimate and honest. Ebert has it as one of his Great Movies, and it’s nice to see an edition worthy of it coming out.
I took a class on imperial Japan last year, and the prof showed us some clips from this movie. But she said that she had never been able to watch it all the way through because she had small children herself and it was just too disturbing. So yeah, I’d say it’s pretty damn sad.
It’s probably the best anti-war movie ever made. I don’t think I can really bear to watch it again but I’m very intrigued by a collector’s edition. Maybe I can work up the resolve one more time…
I’ll vote yes on this. The movie just never lets up, but yet never gets preachy or manipulative.
I remember seeing a TV documentary about Studio Ghibili a little while before seeng the movie, and it included some clips of Grave of the Fireflies. One scene was of Seita sitting at a fire, and although I couldn’t follow what was being said, something in the look on his face or the way he was sitting in front of the fire told me exactly what it was he was burning. That image sent a sudden chill right down my back.
I saw it on the rack at Anime Extreme in Toronto, and noted it as one to rent. I’m glad I found this thread–now I know to reserve it for a suitable time. Like a week’s holiday…
Nope. The saddest movie ever is** The Biscuit Eater **(Not the Disney version, or course). When the little boy calls his dog a no-account biscuit eater and makes him break his point, and Promise (the dog) looks at him like his heart is breaking, when the kid betrays the dog’s love to help his father, your heart can’t help breaking. Then later on, when Promise is shot by the kennelman while he’s trying to climb into his mate’s kennel and he dies in his boy’s arms…I get tears just thinking about it.
I keep hearing the word “devastating” used to describe this movie–and that bears out personal experience. Amazing film. The dvd release is going to be Central Park–I really hope they do a good job with that–they don’t tend to treat their dvd releases very well.
Incidentally, I heard once that when GotF was released, it was part of a double-feature with My Neighbor Totoro. And it wasn’t the first movie. I can’t imagine what the number of heads in the audience that exploded…
Dancer in the Dark and the Streisand/Kristofferson version of A Star Is Born both just kill me. Every time. Another not-often-heard-of movie is The Reflecting Skin, which is an anti-war movie within a bizarre, depressing movie. But I’m going to have to find Grave of the Fireflies. I doubt I can get it at Blockbuster. Where did y’all find it?
The other day I was in the asian grocery store and I noticed they sell the little tin cans of fruit-flavored hard candies that the little girl loves so much. I kind of got choked up just looking at them. ::sniff::
For those who haven’t seen (or even heard of) the film here is the review from Ebert’s Great Movies list: http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/greatmovies/ebert19.html
As a matter of fact I haven’t seen the film myself though I am a huge Studio Ghibli fan; I just never feel in the mood for a really sad film. However I will try to see it soon and maybe comment later on in this thread.
BTW the review compares GOTF to Schindler’s List and perhaps some of you might want to expand on that. I think Schindler is a pretty good film but it is also a bit of a cop-out in the way it tries to contrive a feel-good ending. That notorious final speech by Schindler really brings it down a notch or two.
“But I’m going to have to find Grave of the Fireflies. I doubt I can get it at Blockbuster. Where did y’all find it?”
Actually it might well be at the Blockbuster but check whether it’s in Japanese or a dub. I read that the dub is not that good though YMMV on the issue of dub versus sub.
Otherwise the DVD is available though IIRC it is a bit expensive at around $30.
I found the DVD at Suncoast. Granted, it was the Suncoast in the Santa Monica mall, so their Anime selection is probably better than most.
It’s a two disk set. The first has the movie in both English and Japanese with subtitles. The second has interviews and other supplimentary material. I watched the Japanese version, so I can’t comment on the quality of the dub.
Personally, I think its far more powerful and moving than Schindler’s List. SL has more of a sense of history, which is both good and bad. It’s a more intellectual movie.
GotF puts its focus tightly on the two main characters and never looks away. It’s pure emotion.
Just a quick heads up. There’s now two different releases out there. The older, one disc release has an orange bar down the right side saying “Anime DVD”. There’s nothing wrong with this release (it’s the one I have) other than that it has no special features–that is, it has dual language and all that. It’s also encoded region-free (don’t know what CPM has done with the new release.) If you’re looking to buy, buy the new release, unless this one’s a lot cheaper and you think you won’t want to watch the special features.
One more disclaimer: This is a once a year (maybe) movie. If you’re not a big anime fan or a movie buff, it might be worth looking into a rental instead.