Nobody Knows aka Dare mo Shiranai (Wolf, you must buy this)

[BiscLimpkit]

[img]http://members.lycos.co.uk/donttellanyone/nobody.jpg[/img]

I would like to tell everyone about Hirokazu Koreeda’s latest drama, Nobody Knows (aka Dare mo shiranai), illustrating the lives of four young children in Tokyo, as they cope with abandonment from their mother. A single mother and her four children recently rent an apartment that has strict rules about young children moving in. Subsequently, the mother introduces her eldest child Akira (a 12 year old boy) to the landlords and smuggles the remainder of her children in. The children are remarkably well domesticated, having lived at home and denied the privilege of attending school. Due to the strict rules enforced by her landlords, the mother insists to her children that only Akira may leave the house – the rest of the children must always stay inside.

Eventually, the mother who has multiple relationships with various men and quite often returns home reeking of alcohol, abandons the children with some money and they are left to fend for themselves in a harshly desolate world.

Director Hirokazu Koreeda has an extensive background in documentary filmmaking and has investigated into the problem of children coping with abandonment. However, despite its appearance, Nobody Knows is not a documentary. It is a fictional story that reflects on a wide problem in Japan that quite sadly, many people choose to neglect. Nobody Knows is filmed in a uniquely fascinating manner, a camera follows the events of the children (primarily Akira, the eldest) from a completely neutral stance, never judging whether the actions of the characters are right or wrong. It is almost as if the viewer is peeking into these children’s world through a window to get an experience of what it must be like to face those harsh conditions.

The story is undeniably heart-aching; I found Akira’s situation to be incredibly painful – having to look after three siblings without the guidance of a mother. With their money, electricity and water supply running out, the children have to resort to washing in public fountains and scavenging for food. Again due to the way it is filmed, there is tremendous sense of guilt to be felt because the children are so helpless and nobody is doing anything to aid their basic needs.

There are inevitable parallels to be made with Grave of the Fireflies, another excellent film exploring similar themes however I felt Nobody Knows to be more unbearable – in terms of coping with the character’s pain. Perhaps it is because when watching Grave of the Fireflies, I felt naive that these terrible instances occurred during a period long gone. Watching Nobody Knows reminded me of the vast amount of suffering that we all chose to ignore. The final shot (when the credits roll) really does have a formidable impact upon the viewer, where the director expresses a powerful lesson. I will not say any more, as I feel it will spoil the surprise. I look forward to discussing the irony with anyone who has seen the film (with spoiler tags of course).

The film is really long, lasting 141 minutes but never drags. The pacing is beautifully slow, taking its time to illustrate the delicate situation and often random background objects are given the primary focus of attention. I believe Yasujiro Ozu applied a similar technique in his movies, quite often the viewer would witness a scene, then an unimportant object such as a tree flowing in the wind or smoke escaping a chimney would be highlighted – allowing the audience to savour what had just happened – before moving onto the next scene.

It is interesting to note that the four children are played by non-professionals. Neither have had previous acting experience and the performances were still natural and convincing. Yuya Yagira, who plays Akira, won the best actor award at this year’s Cannes and he is only 14 years old (as well as a first time actor).

Nobody Knows is definitely one of the most beautiful and important films of 2004, which I would strongly urge everyone to check out. I found it moving and it made me really think closely of the issues raised within the film; I am certain that the majority of contemporary cinema enthusiasts will agree with me. I watched this at the cinema but I am not familiar with the distributor, hence I cannot confirm if a UK DVD can be seen in the horizon. Although, a Japanese Region 2 DVD with English subtitles will be available in March 2005, so please give this film some attention and support. As for me, I cannot wait to check out Koreeda’s other film, After Life, depicting the world of life after death.

[URL=http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BCBJ-2057#]Nobody Knows @ CDJapan[/URL]

[tom2681]

Yep, I've seen this film a month ago.
Really impressive.

@Bisc: I've seen AfterLife too. Very different but equally great.

[ghevans]

After Life is my all time favourite japanese movie so im definately checking out this - wanted to see it at the LFF but couldnt get time off from work.

[Wolf]

Bisc thanks again for pointing out another must see film (not seen Gege yet, way to busy at the mo to even vist here )

I cant belive this could be more heart aching than Grave of Firefiles. I guess I better have the hanky ready for this one.

[BiscLimpkit]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Wolf[/i]
Bisc thanks again for pointing out another must see film (not seen Gege yet, way to busy at the mo to even vist here )

I cant belive this could be more heart aching than Grave of Firefiles. I guess I better have the hanky ready for this one. [/quote]

Slightly OT but what's with your avatar? Is it from an ad or something? Looks hot...