Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Hotaru no haka (übersetzt: Grave of the Fireflies) basiert auf dem gleichnamigen, semi-autobiographischen Erzählung des japanischen Autors NOSAKA Akiyuki.

Er erzählt den verzweifelten Überlebenskampf eines Geschwisterpaares während der Brandbombenabwürfe der Amerikaner über ihrer Heimatstadt gegen Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges.

 Trotz der (nicht nur für das Jahr 1988) nahezu perfekten Animationsqualität verspürt im Allgemeinen niemand der diesen Film gesehen hat den Wunsch, ihn sich ein weiteres Mal anzuschauen. Zu bedrückend, zu ergreifend ist die Darstellung der auf einer wahren Begebenheit basierenden Geschichte dargestellt. Trotzdem ist dieses Meisterwerk aus dem Hause Ghibli ein Film, den jeder zumindest einmal gesehen haben muß.

Regie: TAKAHATA Isao

Romanvorlage

"hotaru no haka" by NOSAKA Akiyuki (1967)

Die Romanvorlage steht als deutsche Übersetzung unter dem Titel "Grab der Leuchtkäfer" in der Badischen Landesbibliothek hier in Karlsruhe. Ich empfehle den Roman vorher zu lesen, denn nur dann werden die kleinen Gesten und Andeutungen im Film verständlich.

Auszug aus einem Interview mit dem Autor:

"My sister's death is an exact match with the novel. It was one week after the end of the war. At the countryside of Fukui prefecture where I was, it was the day the restrictions on lighting were removed. It must have been the 22nd. It was evening, and I was picking up my sister's bones. I was coming home in a daze when I saw the village lit up. There was nothing like my surprise then. My sister died in my side of the world, and the light was coming back in the other."

"Honestly speaking, there was also relief that she died and my burden was gone. No one would wake me up in the night like she did with her crying, and I wouldn't have to wander around with a child on my back any more. I'm very sorry to say this about my sister, but I did have those feelings too. That's why I haven't gone back to my novel (Grave of the Fireflies, published in 1967) to re-read it, since I hate that. It's so hypocritical. It must be absolutely true that Seita must have thought of his sister as a burden too. He must have thought that he could have escaped better if it weren't for her."

"There are many things that I just couldn't get myself to write into the story. During composition, the older brother got increasingly transformed into a better human being. I was trying to compensate for everything I couldn't do myself. I always thought I wanted to perform these generous acts in my head, but I couldn't do so. I always thought I wouldn't eat and would give the food to my little sister, but when I actually had the piece of food in my hand, I was hungry after all, so I'd eat it. And there was nothing like the deliciousness of eating in a situation like that. And the pain that followed was just as big. I'd think there is no one more hopeless in the world than me. I didn't put anything about this in the novel."

-Akiyuki Nosaka, 1987 interview

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