Skip to main content
Grave of the Fireflies film image

Grave of the Fireflies

Hotaru no haka

This event has passed

Probably the least seen Studio Ghibli masterpiece, this is also one of the most affecting animated films ever made. Roger Ebert described it “as an emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation,” adding: “It belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made.”

Set in Japan during WWII, the film focuses on Seita and his little sister Setsuko. After their mother is killed in an air raid, and with their father serving in the navy, they are forced to fight for survival in the devastated Japanese countryside. Food and shelter are scarce, and even their own relatives are too concerned with their own survival. All they have is each other and their belief that life must carry on. A visually stunning and emotionally powerful meditation on the devastating consequences of war.

Not suitable for young children

March 18: Introduced by Mike Archibald

 

Grave of the Fireflies is an emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation… It belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made.

Roger Ebert

One of the most startling and moving animated films ever.

Glenn Kenny, New York Times

 

Presenting Partner

Media Partner

Director

Isao Takahata

Cast

(Voices) Tatsumi Tsutomi, Shirashi Ayano, Shinohara Yoshiko, Yamaguchi Akemi

Country of Origin

Japan

Year

1988

Language

In Japanese with English subtitles

PG

Violence, frightening scenes

89 min

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

More Studio Ghibli

Tales from Earthsea

From the legendary Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, and the director of From Up on Poppy Hill, comes an animated fantasy epic based on the classic book series by Ursula K. Le Guin.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre

Ponyo

Miyazaki's strange and beguiling fantasy film about a sea spirit – it's an odd eco fable about the terrible power of the sea, but illustrated with such beauty and imagination it transports us entirely into another world.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre

The Secret World of Arrietty

In this enchanting adaptation of Mary Norton's The Borrowers, co-scripted by Hayao Miyazaki himself, Arrietty, a tiny teenager, lives with her parents in the recesses of a suburban home, unbeknown to the homeowner. Then she meets 12-yr-old Shawn...

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre

From Up on Poppy Hill

Set in Yokohama in 1963, this is a poignant teen love story. Written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by his son Goro, the movie tells the story of a lonely high school girl who becomes involved in the fight to save a boys' club house.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre