Movie : Grave of the Fireflies
Director : Isao Takahata
“Everything Is Gone” – Seita , Grave of the fireflies
Grave of the fireflies is a profound tale of grief sans respite. The movie chronicles the life of Seita and Setsuko who are siblings. They appear lost in the terror filled landscape of Japan during the second world war. They wander with the comfort or compassion of their parents having lost their mother in front of their eyes. Their father believes they are fighting for Japan in the war.
The narrative gyrates around their struggle to exist. Evidently, when people cease to comprehend the nature of the struggle, a couple of kids are left without any support in a cruel and ruthless world. It is here that they find refuge in the ephemeral yet consistent light of the fireflies, in the mysteries of the universe wanting to fathom the nature of grief and how it perpetually affected mankind. They also find solace in each other’s company. In the words of Billy Joel they share a drink called loneliness that is any day better than drinking alone.
One desperately tries to find food for himself and his mother, while the other finds it extremely difficult to survive as she is sick.
There is no silver lining in the movie barring the light of the fireflies that hover around Japan with the spirit of Setsuko.
There is no light to be found but in the remnants of the dead, no empathy in a world of relentless terror. Security only exists in the grave where survival is a privilege, where the sky spits fire and is never blue with the indomitable song of birds.
