Animation is uniquely situated to portray the effects of the atom bomb, fire bombs of WW2.
Could GOTF be made in live action successfully? No, he says. Its power depends on vivid, plausible, pathetic child characters. Child actors are very hit and miss, and these children have to go through a whole range of emotions from trauma, to depression, to normal happiness. With animation you have total control over the performances, and with mastery, were able to portray them realistically. With the help of the voice actors of course.
GOTF broadened the horizon of what animation could do for this man. … Naturalistic animation as an end of itself.
He found what Takahata and thought of the film, which prompted him to start his book. Takahata intended to convey a political, almost polemical critique of Japanese society.
After being orphaned, the children move into an Aunt’s house who does not treat them very well. She nags them, blames Seita for not contributing to the war effort, and so they leave. As a result of living on the streets, Setsuko dies. Seita bears some responsibility for his sister’s death. He is only 14, but his proud and somewhat spoiled upbringing led him to make the bad decision.
In my opinion however, 14 is far too young to fully understand the dangers of homelessness, especially in Japan where children grow up much more independently (allowed to walk to school alone, left alone at home no problem), even for wartime. The Aunt is most responsible. But that is not the point of the film. Seita is a metaphor for Japanese society?
There is actually a live action adaptation of GOTF.
Doesn’t come off quite as successfully.
On the film production: trying to capture the authenticity of time and place and characters of Japan in 1945. Huge burden for production and created problems down the line.
Fanatical line of research. Tint of soil, direction fighters approached city, observing nursery of 4 y/o girls, returning to “scene of the crime”.
Needed more gentle colors compared to traditionally flashy anime colors. Created 250 colors, used about 100. Takahata had an insistence on authenticity. The voice actors were recruited from Kobe and did not have experience with anime before. The actors for Seita and Setsuko were actually children, not adults. The 4 y/o was the youngest voice actor in dubbing history? The runtime of the film expanded from 60 to 80 minutes, delaying the finish of the film. This put Takahata on bad terms with the producers, making GOF come out on time with unfinished section. Very embarrassing and bad for Takahata’s reputation. He was effectively blacklisted until Miyazaki offered to produce his next film.
Q&A
Balance between realism and romanticism. What do you think about his later films? GOTF was criticized for exploring animation techniques without considering the audience’s ability to enjoy it. Viewed as almost propaganda? The idealized rural area did not seem at al realistic to actual rural Japanese residents. As for emphasis on the characters, in Pompoko, we cannot empathize with the raccoons so well. They kill humans, have an unfixed shape – sometimes manga, sometimes great beasts, sometimes raccoons. After GOF, Takahata was called a public intellectual (‘kusso oite” – put that shit away) by Hiroshi? more preoccupied with jamming a meaningful message down audiences’ throats rather than entertaining them.
Takahata has a tendency to be didactic in making his points. For example, the farmer saying how much organic farming is better, basically speaking for Takahata’s political views which may turn off audience members who don’t agree with him. (Or people who don’t like to be spoon-fed the point you’re trying to make.
Maybe I’m exposing myself as a pseudo intellectual but I think packing one’s work with meaningful messages is the best thing you can do with animation, especially these days when a lot of people seem to only care about being entertained. Of course, if you have a character just explain your viewpoint and the “message” of the film, that’s rather lacking in storytelling mastery. I think the best animations have a message that is subtly presented and open to a bit of interpretation.
Takahata was not just a filmmaker, also kind of a public intellectual. He wrote essays, books, gave speeches, talked in schools and radios. (Pacifist) Can be a little pedantic. Contrast with Miyazaki who is also a bit intellectual, but presents it a little more softly and anecdotally.
Personally, I do not think there is any justification for war. Yes, good things can sometimes come out of war – technological and medical advances, the economic turnaround of Japan after WW2… But how can you listen to the story of starving children, comfort women, prisoners who are brutally tortured, and thing that anything on god’s green earth justifies that? Is it possible for war to not include such brutalities? No. As humanity stands now, the nature of war dictates that men will act savagely, tragedies will happen, and until we have all-robot wars or VR wars this won’t change.
Reactions to GOTF in other countries:
In Western countries, the commentary on Japanese society is largely lost and GOF is more seen as a simple tragedy. (Although this happened everywhere, even in Japan – “kawaiso – how pitiful”) In some East Asian countries like Korea, there was significant backlash for a film that shows the Japanese as victims in WW2 without mentioning the various crimes they had committed in other countries.
This last point I think is a very good criticism. Online there is a bit of discussion about how Japan “likes to play the victim” but they have not paid reparations for the comfort women of Korea and the atrocities committed in China. On the other hand, however, you can’t say that Seita and Setsuko, and many of the Japanese civilians were not victims – they most definitely were. That is the thing about war. It makes victims of all those involved. Some bear more responsibility than others, and you should not avoid that responsibility, but in a film you of course have to pick and choose what to represent in order to best tell your story. I think it is right for the Japanese administration to apologize, but Grave of the Fireflies is not the place for that to happen. GOTF was the work of a small group of Japanese people telling a specific story about the struggle of two orphaned children. It doesn’t mention anything about what Japan did in WW2, but it does display the faith the Japanese people had in the “great empire”. From the perspective of Seita and Setsuko who we follow, it would not make any sense to make space for Japan’s war crimes.
Or maybe that’s not quite right. There is room, but it would have made a very different film. Would it have made a better film? I’m not so sure. And in this world, like one commenter said, there is room for all true stories.