Topic: Daremo Shiranai - Nobody Knows (2004)

[kneato]

Please bear with me as I'm not the best at writing reviews. But I wanted to share a few that I have written over the past couple months and I might as well start off with this one....




Synopsis

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.

Review

This is an excellent movie, it pulls you into the world of 4 children living in Tokyo who were abandoned by their mother Keiko. The children all range from ages 4-12 two boys and two girls. The movie starts off with the family moving into a small apartment/room in Tokyo 2 of the children are brought in hidden inside suitcases from the landlords, the oldest of the children Akira is the only child that is permitted to have contact with the outside world. After settling into the new place Keiko goes over the rules with the children, no going outside the apartment/room at anytime, and no loud noises. Akira does all the shopping and sometimes does the cooking while his mother is out on dates. You rarely see Keiko as she leaves the children at home alone all the time and tells them that she is out looking for a husband so that they can all live this wonderful life in a big house and everything. She comes home only to bring money and drop off presents for the kids. Right before Christmas Keiko leaves a letter and some money for the children, she instructs Akira to watch after his 3 younger siblings Kyoko the oldest girl, Shigeru the youngest boy and Yuki the youngest girl, while she goes off to [work] for some odd months.

At first things are going well, the kids are all chipping in and helping out around the house Kyoko does their laundry while Akira pays all the bills and goes out to get food. The younger kids become more and more intrigued by the outside world while Akira finds himself stuck on the outside world but sitting on the side line, he wants to take part in what all the other kids his age are doing but every time he tries there is always something to bring him back to the reality that he has way more responsibilities then just being a kid. As the apartment/room starts to deteriorate so does the movie, it gets very gloom and gives this real look into all the struggles that the children have to endure.

I rented this DVD on netflix I saw it in one of my friends list, and thought I would check it out, I never paid attention to its 2 hour plus running time, but actually sitting down and watching the movie you never pay attention to the fact that this movie is 2 hours long, as you are more concerned with how these 4 young kids are going to survive. I am not big on movies that are over 2 hours long as I tend to loose all interest in the movie itself, but this was one movie that pulled me into it right from the beginning. It was very well written and directed the acting from these kids was outstanding, this movie is bound to touch your heart.

[Achim]

Thanks!

Keep more reviews/recommendations coming I added this one to my Wish List...

[Kathy]

Thanks!

Keep more reviews/recommendations coming I added this one to my Wish List...

Me too! Thank you.

[Achim]

Thanks!

Keep more reviews/recommendations coming I added this one to my Wish List...

It took me 9 months to buy it and then another year to actually watch it...

Nobody Knows is a slow moving film, taking it's time to tell the story. Cinematography and Editing work together beautifully, often the camera lingers on something seemingly secondary (a foot next to some crayons which get randomly picked up by the hand drawing a picture, hands throwing up a bottle and catching it again) and ends up telling us important information this way or conveying the feelings of the person. The story unfolds slowly with the drama screw getting tightened ever so slightly. The four children provide adequate performances to say the least, often delivering subtleties that work very nicely.

There is unfortunately one heavy flaw here, which is the film's length. I don't mind that most things happen very slowly, but since there is so little drama unfolding I don't really see the need to do so in 140min. Standout example is the scene(s) with the friends who appear rather suddenly and then eventually are dropped again, only to make one simple point, such things could have been tightened up easily.

[Najemikon]

Sounds interesting, but I think what you describe is often very much the Asian style. I have a film called 3-Iron. Odd, but brilliant story, wonderful photography, dripping with metaphors, but bloody hell, it's so slow to be unwatchable a second time. It just makes it strange.

Interesting that Kneato said he didn't like long films but he didn't notice this one! He may not have realised that this sort of film suits him better than he assumed.

[Najemikon]

Empire are sending regular reports from Cannes and I thought this might be interesting considering the last line...

Which is an appalling segue into another letdown: Kore-Eda Hirokazu's Air Doll (pictured... duh!), in which a plastic sex doll comes to life, gets a job in a video store and learns a lot about human frailty. At two hours it feels stretched even for a feature. It would be cruel to say that it's basically a short, but there's an element of truth in that. Still, I was happy to fall in love with the adorable Du-Na Bae, who plays the doll, as I suspect Kore-Eda was. A good 70 per cent of the film rests on her doll-like beauty and terrific command of physical comedy. The twee stuff I didn't like (it's not as bad as Milla Jovovich learning about war in The Fifth Element), but thankfully there wasn't so much of that. Like Coppola's film, Air Doll looks beautiful, and even though it bordered heavily on pretension, I went with it and was happy to give Kore-Eda the benefit of the doubt. His films are slow and thoughtful, with a charming vein of humour, so they're not destined to break out any time soon. However, if you fancy a break from the usual Asian masters, check out 2004's wonderful Nobody Knows.

[Achim]

Well, yeah, Asian horror is another example, where stuff simply unfolds way slower than in (most) Western movies...


Talking about Cannes, I heard today that, due to the bad economy, business is bad and films get sold slowly; a buyer's market, apparently.