Review of Nobody Knows (2004) by Reza K — 21 Jul 2012

Nobody Knows is a journey, one that not many people would like to take because it is one of those journeys we all need but it makes us question how inhumane humans can be and the things we do for our survival. As a premise, based on real life events, four children are abandoned by their mother with little money and absolute no schooling. In the beginning, she goes away for a while and returns but eventually she goes away and the time passes and through the film, it is left open if she will or she wonâ(TM)t come back. Now Akira, the older of the siblings has to take care of his brother and two sisters. To add to their tragedy as their mother goes away they impose over themselves an incarceration inside their apartment in order to avoid been seen and eventually separated.

This is not a pleasant experience, on the contrary, it is painful to see the plight the children have to endure and be just a spectator. But it has a much nicer tone and outcome than the real life events that were the base of the film. The technical choices by Koreeda such as the use of only diagetic sounds instead of other superficial ones gives spirit to the characters, realism to the film and authenticity to the story and avoids any type of emotional exploitation of its audience. This story is inherently moving and deeply sad in all of its aspects. In terms of cinematography it is shot as a quasi documentary, stripped of any type of gimmick and artificial techniques as if it was a Dogme 95 film and that documentary feel adds to the idea of faithfulness of the events. Mid shoots and close shots are predominant since most of the action happens inside the apartment and the film focus on the childrenâ(TM)s interactions, the quiet mature Kyoko, the loud hyperactive Shigeru, the little fragile Yuki and Akira on his rite of passage from child to adult with no middle stage.

However, the more astonishing aspect of the story is the superb interpretations by the main actors of the film. Even involuntarily, we feel sympathy and compassion for the mother who seems to be more of an infant than any of the other children. Her naivetà (C) is charming, even though we soon discover that she is about to abandon them. Yuya Yagira on the other hand has the performance of a lifetime as the young Akira that has to become an adult so quickly in order to make sure their siblings are taken care of. His performance was so astonishing that deservedly beat Tom Hanks, Geoffrey Rush and Gael Garcia Bernal for the top actor prize at Cannes. Ayu Kitaura on the other hand does a fine job but unfortunately is completely overshadowed by Yuyaâ(TM)s presence. The acting has a much-improvised feel to it but it never feels fake, on the contrary, it always seems as if they were really living those events.

In terms of narrative it is pretty linear and based on the presumed fact that nobody knows what is happening to the children, nobody knows that they even exist but as we analyze further we see that ironically and unlike what was suggested in the title many people did knew. That fact alone adds more tragedy to the story because their parents didnâ(TM)t only abandon them but they were also abandoned by the rest of the world that seems to be indifferent to their plight and doesnâ(TM)t make much attempt to help. And this is the main point that Koreeda wanted to express. This is particularly visible when we see that we have a very ambiguous ending, the events of the final minutes of the films are a foreseeable consequence but we do not have much closure.

Nevertheless, this is not a film to make anyone feel entertained, itâ(TM)s a film people appreciate because it makes them think and unlike most films nowadays it grows inside and no one ever forgets.