Such a sad, sad movie, made all the worse because it follows the true story of young children left to fend for themselves in an apartment (though, somehow the true story manages to be worse).
It's a good film, and it's important to have films like this - just so long as we don't...( read more)
Ayu Kitaura, Hanae Kan, Hiei Kimura
Four siblings live happily with their mother in a small apartment in Tokyo. The children all have different fathers and have never been to school. The very existence of three of them has been hidden f...( read more
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DVD Release Date: September 13, 2005
Stats: 865 reviews
Flixster Reviews (865)
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February 11, 2009
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August 2, 2007
Absolutely essential viewing. Slow, subtle and sublime. Wonderfully shot and written the story unravels at a calm pace building up to a devastating climax. Incredible performances from the youths make this a painfully naturalistic and at the same time heartwarming film about fami...( read more)
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March 5, 2007
This film, loosely based on true events, is beautful and moving. A cast made up largely of children under the age of 13, the acting is perfect in it's understated delivery. I think the length is entirely deserved.
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September 29, 2006
People love to say how sad and heartbreaking this or that film is... But until you see this film, don't! If there is a perfect way of capturing inocence and hope on screen, with some humor, it was done here! Very intense and detailed film, that can make any human being on this pl...( read more)
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November 10, 2009
Another heart wrenching tale based on a true story about a reckless mother who abandons her four young children in order to go to "work", far away from the family home. The children seem to adore their mother, but her antics soon land them in trouble as they're forced to fend for...( read more)
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October 10, 2009
This film unfolds slowly but firmly into one of the saddest movies I've seen this decade.Beautiful and innocent, tells a story in such an original and refreshing way it is actually enjoyable, it doesn't matter how sad it is. Hirokazu Koreeda is a master in film-making, and Yûya Y...( read more)
Critic Reviews
It's a quietly powerful work, pulsing with gentle humor and a gripping sense of imminent calamity and dread. full review
Hirokazu Kore-eda has made a film that's almost physically painful to watch. Spare and elegant and harrowing, it's an ode to childhood trust being stretched until it snaps. full review
Kore-eda is the most gifted of the young Japanese directors. full review
Kore-eda's filmmaking is austere and deliberate, yet his humanism is manifest in every frame. full review
I certainly came out of Nobody Knows feeling numb; only later, reflecting on the fact that the movie was inspired by a true story, did it occur to me that the numbness could have been deliberate, and ... full review
"Nobody Knows" is, in fact, heartbreakingly sad. But it is also fascinating and, oddly, often a joy to watch. full review
Comments
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August 10, 2007Beautiful and haunting, this movie slowly weaves a subtle tale about abandonment and responsibility. The quiet and almost indifferent natures of the children while dealing with life threatening problems really illustrates their understanding of the situation. While you and I would worry about having no food or money to pay the rent, they take it in stride. Making the viewer come to terms with the pure hopelessness these children face.
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