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Features: DVD, Widescreen, Dolby, Hi-fi Stereo, English, Subtitled
A critically-acclaimed and powerful, heartfelt story about fourchildren who are forced to rely on one another after they areabandoned by their mother.
"Astonishing." New York Times
" There are moments in Yagira's performance that will break your heart." Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"Unforgettable. Stunning." Washington Post
Editor's Note
Yuya Yagira was named Best Actor at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for his moving portrayal of the older brother trying desperately to support his three younger siblings in writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda's masterful work NOBODY KNOWS. Kore-eda (MABOROSI, AFTER LIFE) also produced and edited the film, which was nominated for the Palm d'Or and was Japan's entry for the Academy Awards. Yagira stars as Akira, a determined and resourceful 12-year-old boy forced to take care of Kyoko (Ayu Kitaura), Shigeru (Hiei Kimura), and Yuki (Momoko Shimizu) every time their mother, Keiko (Japanese pop star and TV actress YOU), goes away for extended periods of time. Akira does the shopping, Kyoko does the laundry, Shigeru causes trouble, and Yuki is endlessly cute. However, in order to remain in their new apartment, the three younger children are not allowed outside or else the landlord, who does not know they live there, will evict them. Akira tries to teach his sisters and brother, as none of them attends school, with varying success. They have no friends, save for Saki (Hanae Kan), an offbeat outsider. When Keiko disappears and the money starts running out, the children are faced with severe problems, and tragedy lurks. Kore-eda based this powerful tale on a true story of abandoned children, and he has filmed NOBODY KNOWS with a documentarian's eye, lending it added reality that makes it that much more heartwarming and, ultimately, heartbreaking.
| Features | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Sony Pictures |
| Release Date: 2/6/2007 |
| Running Time: 141 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2005 | | Catalog ID: 102389 | | UPC: 00027616928931 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Japanese | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], Japanese | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 1.66:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Cannes Film Festival (2004) |  | Yuya Yagira , Winner, Best Actor | | | Hirokazu Koreeda, Nominee, Golden Palm |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"[A] harrowing, tender film....Mr. Kore-eda explores nearly every emotional nuance and implication of the story, without for an instant succumbing to sensationalism or melodrama." 02/04/2005 p.E1Entertainment Weekly
"Hirokazu finds a gentle and cumulatively mesmerizing way to convey the connection among the children..." 02/11/2005 p.48 Movieline's Hollywood Life
"The film forges a stinging indictment of a callous society that turns a blind eye to abject poverty and neglect." 02/01/2005 p.86-88 Sight and Sound
"[B]oth affecting and agonising....It's Kore-eda's poetic child's-eye-view construction of the family's lingering ordeal that holds the attention." 06/01/2005 p.85 Slate 8 of 10
Kore-eda's filmmaking is austere and deliberate, yet his humanism is manifest in every frame. He doesn't demonize the mother (played by the pop singer known as You), who comes off less as a monster than a narcissistic child-woman. Perhaps it's this refusal to jerk the audience around that makes Nobody Knows one of the most painful films I've seen. I don't know if it's quite as tortuous for people without small children. It might be. But whatever it is that hardwires a parent to wake up instantly when a child cries out in the night makes it a living hell to watch four kids slowly starve from neglect. - David Edelstein
Reel.com 8 of 10
Based on true events, this film is not just a silver-screen version of what really happened in Tokyo in 1988, it's ultimately an allegory of how we close our eyes and accept the fate of street kids that roam the downtowns of any major city in the world. Poverty is something no one chooses; it's a way of life individuals are forced into by a harsh system that pays no attention to its weakest members. In the end, Nobody Knows does succeed, doing what the filmmakers had in mind: It hits a raw nerve with the audience and makes them think about the world we live in. - Rudy Joggerst
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