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I don’t think you are getting it. Grave of the firefly is not a cautionary tale. You are failing to put it in its cultural context. Seita mostly acts or try to
by WastingMyTime89 4y ago
I don’t think you are getting it.
Grave of the firefly is not a cautionary tale. You are failing to put it in its cultural context. Seita mostly acts or try to act as would be expected from a Japanese man at this time and the people around him are actually not really trying or failing to help because they are trying to survive the war too.
Takahata is actually extremely sympathetic to their plight.
In a lot of ways it is a reverse Hollywood war movie. There is no real heroism. Courage is pointless, people selfish in their will to survive. The protagonists are clueless and ineffective but they are touching in their humanity and try to root for each other and yet they fail and die forgotten.
It’s really a movie about how much of a waste war is. Takahata doesn’t even try to introduce suspense and plays it straight from the beginning. You know from the beginning that the protagonists struggle is pointless and that’s the point.
- kstenerud 4y agoQuite right. The failed hero is a very deep part of Japanese culture spanning centuries. To continue to the bitter end even in the face of insurmountable odds, even beyond the point where it's become obvious you'll lose and nothing will be gained from it, is considered a very honorable act. An American published a study of this aspect of Japanese literature in the 70s. "The nobility of failure" I think it was called.
- lioeters 4y agoThe Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan - Ivan Morris https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/573601.The_Nobility_of_Failure https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/573601.The_Nobility_of_F...
- yieldcrv 4y ago> Takahata is actually extremely sympathetic to their plight. Yes anyone willing to make a movie about homeless and the more relatable things leading up to it is going to be sympathetic. I didn't use that word sympathetic, I agree that it does that. Its cautionary for viewers.
- WealthVsSurvive 4y agoIt is first and foremost a story by a man that wished he had died with his sister, instead of surviving similar events of the story. Because if he had died, he couldn't go on to regret not saving her and would know he tried his best. Dying is the courage.