Fireflies: Grave Of

It is a devastating critique of the Japanese wartime spirit. In trying to act like a soldier—self-sufficient, stoic, honorable—Seita fails as a brother. The film asks a question that has no easy answer: Is it better to die with dignity or live with shame?

There is a small, sickening moment about halfway through Grave of the Fireflies that encapsulates its entire thesis. Four-year-old Setsuko, starving and delirious, begins to make “rice balls” out of mud. She presents them to her older brother, Seita, with a proud smile. He doesn’t have the heart to tell her the truth. Grave of fireflies

Most war films give you a clear villain. Grave of the Fireflies refuses. The American B-29 bombers are faceless; the wartime government is absent. The true antagonist is pride. It is a devastating critique of the Japanese wartime spirit

But you should watch it anyway.