Impossible to Put Out

"You can see it in their eyes."
Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Points for Reflection

Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

1. Many famous films, including Sunset Boulevard (1950) and American Beauty (1999), open with the narrator’s death, after which point he narrates the events preceding his untimely demise.  In Grave of the Fireflies (1988), does this narrative choice introduce the element of the supernatural—the possibility of an afterlife—or does it function merely as a pragmatic narrative device?
2. What array of reactions does Seita’s dying body receive in the railway station?
3. The arrival of what living thing reliably signals a character’s death in this film?
4. What happens to the tin can found at the film’s opening?
5. What transition connects the opening scene--the one ending in a train--with the next scene which opens with American planes filling the Japanese skies?
6. Describe the weather on the day of the incendiary bombing.
7. Is this the first time Seita’s family has taken refuge in a shelter?
8. What preparations does Seita make before heading to the shelter?
9. How ominous are the visuals and sounds effects during the bombing run?
10. Where do Setsuko and Seita take refuge from the bombing run?
11. Do any of the Japanese citizens ever say “American” or “United States” out loud?
12. How does Takahata convey the sense of extreme heat?
13. The firebombing destroys which structures?
14. What array of things does Seita do to support and encourage his sister?
15. What array of actions does the film depict that some might consider improper to discuss or show in a film?
16. Do children appear just as resilient as adults in this tale?
17. Does Takahata paint a picture of a culture that cares for one another during difficult times?
18. At what points does Takahata employ freeze frame for more than a second or two?
19. What sorts of cuts does Takahata employ?
20. When does Takahata repeat footage?
21. Whom does Seita deceive, and why?
22. How and why does Seita’s and Setsuko’s aunt change over time?
23. How does the kids’ aunt respond to unexpected news about their mother?
24. What triggers their relocation away from Nishinoyima? 
25. Do Seita and Setsuko appear equally awed in the presence of fireflies?
26. What does Seita see in his mind’s eye as Setsuko constructs a primitive grave?
27. At what points does Seita allow his pent-up sorrow to express itself in tears?
28. What physical symptoms mark Setsuko’s changing health condition?
29. Which appears more deadly in this film, apathy or aggression?
30. What does Seita do during later incendiary bombing runs?
31. What does the poignant pan from left to right, moving away from the wealthy home where three young woman step out on a balcony, reveal?
32. How well does Seita care for Setsuko?
33. Why might Seita have waited so long to withdraw the family’s 3000 yen from the bank so he could buy food?
34. What sorts of cuts does Takahata employ?
35. What array of situations trigger Seita’s flashbacks into the past?
36. At what point does Seita break the fourth wall and look at the audience?

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
one sheet

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu