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In it's own manner, the film carries the tone of true life events. Not only because it's content is based on truth but because it allows you to see the simpleness of life and the things we all take for granted. As the story unfolds, I realized, even midway through that the depth of the kids understanding and sincerity for their mother's selfishness seemed to outweigh what most youth would succumb to - the victim role. The foursome, for the most part, didn't allow the outside world to disembody them. Akira took the lead over the three younger siblings and so goes the story that nobody knows.
This movie is a profoundly moving, quietly powerful work that will leave both the art film cineaste and the common film lover completely awestruck. Nobody Knows is the type of film that is so convincing and natural that one forgets just how difficult and rare it is to capture peformances like these from children. Those who have grown used to the trite caricatures that American child actors are trained to become will be pleasantly shocked by what a real child looks like portrayed on film... the twelve year old lead actor is particularly amazing. The complete antithesis of Hollywood "blow sh*t up" movies, Nobody Knows' long silences and graceful, cinema verite shots are spellbinding and very much welcome. I completely recommend this film!
It no surprise that teenage actor Yagira won the acting prize from the Cannes film festival last year. This Japanese movie is a straight-out thriller. A mysterious mother who leaves her children abandoned in a Tokyo apartment to fend for themselves. 12-year-old Akira, 10-year-old Kyoko, Shigeru, 7, and Yuki, 4 are forgotten, unwanted and, in a sense, marked for oblivion. Keiko, Akira’s (Yagira) mother, moves into a Tokyo apartment complex with Akira but smuggles in her other three kids. She's afraid of eviction and attention. We learn soon enough that all four come from different fathers and that Keiko has no intention of taking care of them. Not long after they have moved in, Keiko disappears. She comes back once or twice, but, essentially, Akira becomes the head of the cramped household. Akira's determination to keep not only himself but his siblings provided for, is the film's emotional driving force.Read full review
The movie has a reputation for being rather depressing. But if you approach it as a cultural study or even a study of mankind's dilemma you will not expect simple entertainment but be drawn into the author's philosophic world view. Listen carefully to the words of the song at the end of the film, combined with the title and I think you will find a question as old as the book of Job and as universal as anyone asking, "if there is a creator, where is it, does it even care?" There is more insight into the Japanese culture here than one might have guessed. I highly recommend it.
I had seen the previews and couldn't wait to purchase and view this movie. It was probably the worst movie I have ever seen. There was no story and the ending left you hanging.
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