While many of the films portraying the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki focus on the overwhelming aftermath, Sunao Katabuchi’s beautifully presented anime, based on Fumiyo Kono’s manga, is unusual, even in Japanese cinema, for spending much of its running time depicting ordinary life in the years leading to the cataclysm. As a result, the film gains an additional layer of poignancy in its depiction of what was lost in the fire. Moving from the childhood of Suzu (voiced by Rena Nōnen) to her marriage as an 18-year-old in 1943, Suzu and her community must adapt to the hardships of war, even before its final acts. This is a deeply moving and even optimistic portrayal of a society coming to terms with such loss.

Screening as part of the Fallout season.

Notes by Kevin Coyne.