Nobody Knows
by Hirokazu Koreeda
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DVD details
Actor: Ayu Kitaura, Hanae Kan, Hiei Kimura, Momoko Shimizu, Y?ya YagiraDirector: Hirokazu Koreeda
Brand: YAGIRA,YUYA
Cinematographer: Yutaka Yamasaki
Editor: Hirokazu Koreeda
Producer: Hirokazu Koreeda
Writer: Hirokazu Koreeda
Producer: Satoshi Kono
Producer: Toshiro Uratani
Producer: Yutaka Shigenobu
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 141 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-09-13
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Nobody Knows
DVD Review: Heart Wrenching
Summary: 4 Stars
This Japanese film about a family of young children trying to make it on their own in life after their mother's selfish lifestyle leaves them to fend for them selves, is heart wrenching. The child actors are amazing and the film really holds you in your seat. Not a fan of the ending, but as a whole this film was a believable portrayal of doing what you can when being dealt a bad hand. DVD Review: Prepare for 2 and 1/2 hours
Summary: 4 Stars
The film is based on a true story in Japan, 1988 where a heartless mother abandoned her children in an apartment. In most cases where film depicts true life, the film story is more sensualized. But here, according to reports of the true incident, the real life "Affair of the Abandoned Children of Sugamo." is much more grim.
Nobody Knows, filmed in 2004, takes place in Japan where a young mother of four tells the children she is out of town working and leaves the children to fend for themselves, for months or forever. Initially, mother and eldest son rent an apartment, but she sneaks the other children into the apartment. The other three are never to go outside, nor attend school. She tramps around, then leaves.
From a Boy to a Man to a Boy to a Man
The pre-teen boy is suddenly thrust into manhood, as we see him dutifully budget the money left to him, paying rent, buying food. He is the man of the house, until temptations of childhood take over and as a young boy indulges on games and nonsense with friends. Then, as the money and friends go, he tries to earn money to support his siblings, the role of a man.
Although the movie is 2 1/2 hours long, the pace slow; it is necessary to depict the length of time these children are alone, fending for themselves. Some feel it could have been cut considerably. Dialogue is minimal and soundtrack low key. It won several awards.
What is depicted in the film does not ring true to "survival." We get the feeling that their life is not in too much despair. The children do not appear "neglected" and it doesn't quite come across as months of solitude without proper supervision and care. For another similar film with abandonment as the theme, try Treeless Mountain .......Rizzo
DVD Review: A Moving Story
Summary: 5 Stars
A very long, slow moving film, clocks in at 2 hours 20 minutes. The entire film, the editing, the sound, all move very slowly and deliberately. The film lopes along while building a remarkable story.
The film is a case of not perfect production, not perfect sound, not perfect acting, not perfect focus, but incredible power, a captivating movie. The editing pace is just perfection. The unveiling speed of the story is perfection. Even with all the imperfections, this film is virtually a masterpiece, a slot moving one, but a masterpiece.
It's well known starting this film, these young children are going to be left alone to live in an apartment by themselves, and that the film is fictional but based on a true story. The intrigue of when it will happen and how, is so wonderful. Every 10 or 15 minutes the film started this reviewer thinking about different things. And the film seemed to propose answers to those questions.
The children in this film are remarkable. The oldest son is not a stellar actor, but he has a magnetism.
The film has a documentary feel to it. But it is a dramatic film, not documentary. The director knows exactly how long to hold on certain scenes and how to cut away quickly in other instances.
This is a bleak film. It is dark. But there is a light inside these wonderful children, how they deal with the cards they have received. How life goes on. The ending is a true shock.
The DVD has no bonus features. The film is rated PG-13, there is no violence, no language, and no nudity. It is likely younger children could watch this film. It is presented in Japanese with English subtitles. No worry, there is not a lot of dialog.
DVD Review: Bleak, subtly beautiful, full of heart
Summary: 5 Stars
Nobody Knows (Dare mo shiranai) is based on a true story of children left on their own for months on end to fend for themselves in a Tokyo apartment. Cautioned to remain hidden, as the landlord only knew about one child instead of four, the three younger ones constantly stay inside, away from any contact with the rest of the world.
I was struck by several things about this film. First, what may be a cultural difference between Japan and America - the gentleness and slowness of their lives' rhythms, down to the way the children put books into the shelf or take dishes out of the cupboard. I found this pace, combined with the sweetness to their communal laying around instead of isolation in individual bedrooms with technology to occupy their minds, beautiful and inspiring - even if it is intended to show the ennui that eventually comes with being continually trapped indoors.
This brings me to the second point. I am surprised that Koreeda didn't show the kids showing any ill effects from being cooped up like that. They had no way to use their bodies in real physical activity, and no connection with nature, dirt, weather, or other animals. This would surely drive a person mad - yet these children remain sweet to each other and even creative.
The children seek nature and their own wild selves anyway, drawing pictures on whatever paper is available (such as an overdue water bill) and posting them all over the walls; and their one illicit outing led to their collecting precious seeds of "weeds", which they then carefully planted in leftover ramen containers to bloom an unkempt wildflower garden on their balcony. The film shows the poignant human yearning toward Beauty, no matter how dire the circumstances.
The oldest girl cannot accept that her mother has abandoned them, and scenes like her wistfully fingering a stain on the floor left by a spilled bit of nailpolish from their last time together just breaks your heart.
The oldest boy who's left in charge, played by the very deep Yuya Yagira, is much more pragmatic about facing the truth about their situation. He also exhibits a lot more maturity than the mother, taking on responsibility for his siblings and letting go of all his studies except math, in order to calculate their dwindling ability to deal with the household expenses. Although clearly out of his league in terms of the responsibility loaded onto him, he does what he can to keep them all fed, bathed, and happy; and to get money to achieve this, from seeking out several of their missing fathers to trying to get a job even though he's underage. Yet he refuses to sink low even in dire straits - (mild spoiler coming) - he won't steal food even to keep his new pals, and he won't accept money from another friend gained through means he disapproves of. His nobility of spirit is one of the shining forces that makes this film so compelling.
The kids rarely show any sort of emotion, another trait of this movie that I found odd, and wonder if it may be cultural. Even when confronted with death, there are no tears. This stoicism, exhibited even in the youngest, makes the few moments when subtle anger or despair do show all the more powerful. When a crisis strikes and the oldest boy tries desperately to contact his mother at a number where she's obviously gone off to form a new family, he gets told to wait so long that his payphone coins run out. He slowly puts the receiver down and collapses his forehead against the phone. This simple action conveys more bleak, aware despair than any wailing would.
The ending was initially unsatisfying to me because there really isn't one. You know darned well that these kids can't go on this way for very long, that something will have to give - the landlady will come back again for the unpayable rent and kick them out; they will be discovered; something. But on second thought, I realize that maybe this unsettling aspect is part of the film's genius. People live like this in cities all over the world, and this sort of situation does go on and on and on with no resolution.
If you want to know more about 'the real story' this film was based on, I found Wikipedia to provide the clearest and most concise source. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affair_of_the_four_abandoned_children_of_Sugamo). Reading it, one can see how the director deliberately changed the story to avoid an easy `good vs. evil' theme. He also chose to alter the storyline to eliminate the sort of blood-n-guts scenes so ubiquitous to American films. One can easily imagine how different this film would be if made in Hollywood, and appreciate even more the sensibility of the Japanese.
DVD Review: Simply Wonderous
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is going straight to my favorites. It definitely grabs at your heart strings. Overall the film is long, the story slow, so it's not for you extreme action fans. What really captured my attention is that from the way it's filmed, and the actors, it just feels so real.
I recommend giving it a try. As for the DVD itself, video quality is perfect, worked just great, shipment was fast (so fast in fact it surprised me), and it's affordable.
Description of Nobody Knows
Based on true events that shocked Japan, this story of abandoned siblings is a "harrowing, tender film" (The New York Times) that "unfolds with leisurely beauty" (LA Weekly). Filmed over a year and featuring a performance by 12-year-old Yagira Yuya that won the Best Actor prize at the 2004 Cannes International Film Festival, this "haunting" (Newsday) tale is "heartbreakingly brilliant" (The Boston Globe). A childlike mother of four sneaks her children into their new apartment as if it were a game. One of the game's rules is that only Akira, the oldest, can go outside. Their mother leaves, first for a month, then possibly forever. As the money runs out and the utilities are shut off, Akira struggles to take care of his brother and sisters, determined that they stay safe and together.Nobody Knows, an extraordinary film from Japanese director Kore-Eda Hirokazu, is a heartbreaking and touching story about how selfish a single mother can be to her four children, and how resilient children can be. Kicked out of several apartments for her large brood, Keiko (Japanese pop star You) sneaks them in to a new one (two inside the suitcases) and goes over the house rules: No loud noises. They must stay hidden inside the apartment all day, every day. Only Akira, the oldest, leaves to do grocery shopping while she works. He also makes dinner while Keiko goes out on dates (implying to her children that she's looking for a rich husband so that they can all live in a big house together).
One day, Keiko (not a villain, but an unsympathetic, helium-voiced child herself) announces she's going away for a few weeks to work. She soon emerges every few months, only to drop off money before taking off again, at one point, for good. Akira forgoes any normal 12-year-old's upbringing (even school) to play mother, father, even Santa Claus to his siblings. There's a trapped feeling in Nobody Knows. For the younger kids, it's the inability to escape to the outside world. For Akira, it's seeing the outside world and knowing he has too many responsibilities to participate in it--when he tries, the results are disastrous. As the children grow up and resources become more scarce, the film's tenacity to show every painful detail of their existence slows the pace to almost a standstill. Still, it's a lovely, haunting tale beset with unforced performances from its young actors, particularly Yagira, who won the best actor prize at Cannes. -- Ellen A. Kim
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