Nobody Knows (Dare mo shiranai)
Japanese, 2004
This is a very heavy film, so be sure to have lots of chocolate handy, and tissues if you're a movie weeper. To add icing on the cake, it's based on
a true story.
Four children under age 13 are abandoned by their mother in a major Japanese city, left alone in their apartment. She's often slow in sending money,
so they have to find ways to get more to keep from being evicted. The daily struggle of these children to survive was heart-wrenching to watch.
Along with the daily small tragedies, a major tragedy is in the works for these children. The movie ends on a question mark: what happens to these
kids in the future?
I don't want to say too much, because I don't want to spoil it. This is one film that I couldn't predict the flow of the plot, which is one of the
reasons I watch foreign films more often than American ones at the moment; American films are so formulaic that they're often disappointing to watch
because there are no surprises for me.
Not so this movie.
As a mom, I don't understand how this woman could have done this to her children. I hope the authorities catch the real life mother this film is
based on and give her some jail time.
Fantastic movie, worth five stars.
