i just watched it. i didn't find it that depressing, only because i was annoyed at the boy. for instance, he didn't even make one attempt to get a job. maybe it's a cultural thing, maybe it's part of his character, but i couldn't feel much sympathy for him without some understanding of his decisions. i can understand at least why he might not want to confront his aunt. she was intimidating, after all. but he just never struck me as so stubborn and desperate that it would be in character to go straight to stealing food because no one else would help them.

Great movie. I need to watch it again now that I have it on dvd.

Great movie; but not for the easily disturbed.

[quote="terra"]i just watched it. i didn't find it that depressing, only because i was annoyed at the boy. for instance, he didn't even make one attempt to get a job.[/quote]

Consider that, in that time, there were few paying jobs available, and probably no one would hire a young boy over a fully matured man. If there's anything he is to blame for, it is probably that his pride didn't allow him to suffer through his aunt and her abuse.

[quote="Jomei"][quote="terra"]i just watched it. i didn't find it that depressing, only because i was annoyed at the boy. for instance, he didn't even make one attempt to get a job.[/quote]
Consider that, in that time, there were few paying jobs available, and probably no one would hire a young boy over a fully matured man. If there's anything he is to blame for, it is probably that his pride didn't allow him to suffer through his aunt and her abuse.[/quote]

ah.. but she was stealing food from them..or. not giving them food. something like that. they wouldn't have lasted that long with her. they could always haunt her afterwards.

The movie was great. Just the reality of it all grasped me into the situation. A lot of the traditional Japanese culture was shown and the WWII stuff was educational. Also, all that pathos around the boy and his sister was sincerely SAD. Anime Insider is right when it says "this movie makes grown men cry".

[quote="wired_musac"][quote="Jomei"][quote="terra"]i just watched it. i didn't find it that depressing, only because i was annoyed at the boy. for instance, he didn't even make one attempt to get a job.[/quote]
Consider that, in that time, there were few paying jobs available, and probably no one would hire a young boy over a fully matured man. If there's anything he is to blame for, it is probably that his pride didn't allow him to suffer through his aunt and her abuse.[/quote]

ah.. but she was stealing food from them..or. not giving them food. something like that. they wouldn't have lasted that long with her. they could always haunt her afterwards. [/quote]

Yeah, I personally don't blame him. Then again, the director said he made the character to be kind of like our generation, so maybe that's why we can understand his reasoning.

[quote="Jomei"]Consider that, in that time, there were few paying jobs available, and probably no one would hire a young boy over a fully matured man. If there's anything he is to blame for, it is probably that his pride didn't allow him to suffer through his aunt and her abuse.[/quote]

i can see that, but he just didn't even make an attempt and get shot down. that's all it would have taken to satisfy me. they were saying that people were working overtime at the factory, and wasn't his cousin working too?- an extra body might have been useful. doesn't mean they would have hired him, of course, but again, he didn't mention it or even try. i suppose he wouldn't want to leave setsuko alone... and possibly it was also sheer stubbornness, since it was his aunt's suggestion.

didn't setsuko complain about staying with the aunt? by leaving the aunt he might have chosen with regard to setsuko's immediate happiness without thinking too much on what might happen if they ran out of food/money. which is in character for a young, inexperienced boy.

so i guess it was a good movie if it got me to ponder the characters' motives this much.

I really enjoyed this movie too. Even though I could see that a bad ending was inevitable, I still pulled for the characters to make it through. I think that's a sign of a great movie.

[quote="terra"]i can see that, but he just didn't even make an attempt and get shot down. that's all it would have taken to satisfy me. they were saying that people were working overtime at the factory, and wasn't his cousin working too?- an extra body might have been useful. doesn't mean they would have hired him, of course, but again, he didn't mention it or even try. i suppose he wouldn't want to leave setsuko alone... and possibly it was also sheer stubbornness, since it was his aunt's suggestion.

didn't setsuko complain about staying with the aunt? by leaving the aunt he might have chosen with regard to setsuko's immediate happiness without thinking too much on what might happen if they ran out of food/money. which is in character for a young, inexperienced boy.

so i guess it was a good movie if it got me to ponder the characters' motives this much.[/quote]

It's true that maybe a more experienced, responsible person would have acted differently. The part that bothers me, though, is the fact that the experienced people (world leaders etc.) are the ones who are really to blame for the situation in the first place. One cannot expect a young boy to know what's best for him and his sister when he just lost his home and both of his parents.

[quote="terra"]i just watched it. i didn't find it that depressing, only because i was annoyed at the boy. for instance, he didn't even make one attempt to get a job. maybe it's a cultural thing, maybe it's part of his character, but i couldn't feel much sympathy for him without some understanding of his decisions. i can understand at least why he might not want to confront his aunt. she was intimidating, after all. but he just never struck me as so stubborn and desperate that it would be in character to go straight to stealing food because no one else would help them.[/quote]

I remember reading an interview with the director Isao Takahata where he said he was surprised that the audience sympathized with Seita so much. He said he expected more frustration and blame on the boy. He probably did have a decent chance to save Setsuko and himself if he made the right choices and didn't have so much pride. But although Seita is partly responsible, the director reminded that he's just a child himself. How responsible and rational do you expect a 14-year old boy to be while everything around him is fire-bombed? How responsible were the adults around him? I imagine quite a few people his age and older died from preventable causes and not bullets and bombs.

The author of the novel that the movie is based on took personal experiences from his own childhood during the bombings with his younger sister. He said he regretted the decisions he made during the bombings and food shortage such as feeding himself first when he had the chance. The film wasn't about 'if' or 'how' the two children will survive. It was about what war does to people and what people do during war.

By the way, food was rationed. Meaning having a job and money didn't help too much with actually getting more food. There simply wasn't enough food for everyone and the most defenseless people i.e. children suffer the most.

IVE NEVER SEEN THIS MOVIE SO I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT

Stop being such an attention whore.

HOW DID YOU FIGURE OUT MY PLAN? I THOUGHT IT WAS BRILLIANT. I GUESS I JUST THOUGHT PEOPLE WOULD FINALLY NOTICE ME IF I USED ALL CAPS. THANKS FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE, DIZZID

Good one Steve.



After watching that movie I wanted to kill all the stupid white americans that

bombed my beloved Japan.


That was the [i]real[/i] point, right?

[quote="Busterken"] The film wasn't about 'if' or 'how' the two children will survive. It was about what war does to people and what people do during war.[/quote]

true... in good times people can afford to be generous, but in hard times it's everybody for themselves. people in the past have sacrificed their own babies to avoid starvation.

[quote="Busterken"]By the way, food was rationed. Meaning having a job and money didn't help too much with actually getting more food. There simply wasn't enough food for everyone and the most defenseless people i.e. children suffer the most.[/quote]

i thought they said rations were only given to people who were part of the community, which is why seita couldn't get rations after they left the aunt. i think they might have qualified if he had a job.

and he was able to get a watermelon and other good things with his mom's money- it still would have helped.