The movie shows the life and destiny of a pair of ordinary siblings under the shadow of the war in 1945. Their mother was killed in an air raid, the siblings became orphans and had to live on the streets in a situation of food shortage; the war ended, their father was killed in the war, and the younger sister and the older brother died of starvation one after another in a situation of having no one to turn to.
The movie does not directly express the anti-war demand, but through the miserable life of the siblings under the war, it lets people see the cruelty and ruthlessness of the war, as well as the lack of dignity and rights of the ordinary people under the war environment, and lets people think about, what is the purpose of such a war in the end? I think, rationally speaking, the death of the siblings is related to the fact that the older brother was too proud of himself, and in times of war, no one’s life is easy. If the older brother could give up his own dignity, and help the landlord to do some chores, and didn’t know how to take the younger sister around all day long, and didn’t meet the eyes of the aunt, then the siblings might not have starved to death alive.
1988 / Japan / Drama Animation War / Takahata Hoon / Tatsumi Nu Shiraishi Ayano
When war breaks out between the U.S. and Japan, 14-year-old Kiyota runs for his life with his younger sister. By the time they reach a bomb shelter, their mother has been seriously injured and dies soon after.
The two siblings were left to fend for themselves.
They had to join their mother’s sisters, and even though they gave all the family’s belongings to their aunt, when the food ran out, the more they felt the feeling of being in the wrong place, and Kiyota decided to take his sister away to live alone.
Life in the smoke of the fire was not easy, and Seita went around stealing food for her sister, but she was still severely malnourished ……
