he story is about Seita and Setsuko, a brother and sister in World War II Japan whose mother is killed during one of the firebombings. They go to live with an aunt but things don't work out at all there and so they move into an abandoned air raid shelter.

From the viewpoint of showing the suffering that occurred during the war in Japan, from a Japanese viewpoint, the film is very good. The firebombings of Japanese cities were horribly effective. More people died in the firebombings than in the explosions of the atomic bombs. Most of the houses at the time were basic wooden structures and once a major fire started the entire area was in danger of being destroyed.

From the viewpoint of other things, though, I didn't care for the film. It starts off with an opening that very strongly implies that the two main characters are dead. I personally don't like any film that starts off this way because you already know that things will not work out.

I did feel sorry for Setsuko. She was very, very young, totally innocent and suffered terribly. I don't feel sorry at all for her brother, Seita, however, and I feel that her death is his responsibility.

After the death of their mother they move in with an aunt. In all the time they are there, however, Seita makes no effort at all to help with anything. He does no housework; he doesn't help in the village; he doesn't try to get a job. The factory he had been working at was destroyed, true, but I think there would have been something he could have done somewhere to earn some money.

Once they leave the aunt's house they move into an abandoned air raid shelter but even then he makes no effort to find some type of work to do. Even after Setsuko becomes ill he still seems to believe that they can make it on their own.

He eventually turns to stealing things from houses abandoned during air raids but eventually gets caught and beat up quite badly. This happens after has has promised Setsuko that he will not leave her alone.

In Western culture the boy might get some praise for trying to make it on his own initiative, but this is a film about Japanese culture and the boy does not follow the principle of the "group." In Japanese culture there is great emphasis on doing things in a group and for the group, including responsibility to the community that you live in. By his complete refusal to help the community in any way or get a job of any kind Seita is basically turning his back on his own culture. Unfortunately, it's his sister that pays the price for his laziness/defiance/whatever.

Move:

Size: 770 MB

Language : Japanese voice English subtitle

Link:

Subtitle quality : 80 %

ENG HBo

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