First and foremost, I would like to say I generally enjoyed this movie. Yuya Yagira is deseving of all the accolades for his performance, which was extremely nuanced and conveyed a maturity beyond his years. The framing and blocking of the characters were also beautifully done, one really got the sense of Akira's feelings of isolation and separation. However, I feel that while the idea of the movie was partly to convey the long and listless days, certain shots were not needed and seemed repetitive.… Expand

Why is this movie considered good? For one, it's little more than a rip off of Flowers in the Attic (the book, not the film) using not only the basic plot - mom loves man more than 2 elder, 2 younger kids, one kid takes parental role - but even some of the more subtle metaphors - the sugared donuts, for one. Second, none of these kids can act. Staring blankly around as if there are four producers waving at you from differenr directions is not acting. Looking melancholy to some painfully irritating piano track; not acting. Also, it takes the idea of showing their day to day life to ludicrous extremes. We know the exact way out of their apartment building, down the street, turn left, there's the grocery store (we know where the office in there is, too), the way to the park and the school... it takes us around town so many times we can honestly find our own way. To do this every. single. scene. is mindnumbing. They wake up, they go out, they buy food, go to park, come home... it's just mindnumbing. Story wise, there isn't one. In true artsy form, there's a beginning - mom leaves kids - but no ending. Curiously, as nothing actually develops or happens, there's no middle either. Too long by, say, two hours, this is the world's longest beginning of a film.… Expand

I just rented this movie. I was overwelmed with emotions. I couldnt stop crying at times. I felt like I was with them going thru the same pain. It is now one of the best films I have ever seen.

There's a thin line between whether the movie is too long or not. Initially, I felt the same way too. But as I watched the second half, i realised what the seemingly nonsensical scenes are for - for the viewers to think and reflect. For those who lament that the show has no ending, think again. Remember why akira did not want to go to the public welfare? because he didn't want to be separated from his siblings. and the movie ended timely, and unfortunately, with the departure of yuki. If they hang on the way they are, they will be separated eventually as well, perhaps in a worse manner - death. towards the end of the show, arika approached saki whom he rejected earlier for help. he did not want saki's money initially because he believed it is against his principle. but he realises in the end that when faced with the harsh reality of face, we have to compromise our beliefs. akira has learnt a lesson - he will approach the welfare public authority. at the end of the show, shigeta (i can't remember the name of arika's brother) found a coin remember? it symbolises new hope for the children.… Expand

Fabulous characters, utterly convincing performances, and a story of increasingly inevitable circumstances and burgeoening sadness. Very well done. See AfterLife and Maborosi, too.

The annoying voice of the mother, the small room , the faces turned toward the older brother and the smile as he moved from first to second, plus a million other things. This film is a masterpiece.

The movie was really fantastic and eye-opening. The music was the perfect companion to the visuals. The story was so rich and full of an endless turn of events. This movie is utterly amazing.

Oppressive and inert. Film is in serious need of editing -- too long by 45 minutes. Well executed, yes, but is in love with itself.

Harrowing, gorgeous and captivating.

While this movie had great potential, it was easily twice as long as it should have been. The emotional impact is lost as you just wait for something, anything, different to happen than what you've already been watching for the past half hour.

Reality is hard to watch. Seeing a boy taking care of a household while mom is chasing a lover or when the fathers are oblivious to the realities of their children is painful. Knowing that these things are happening in an advanced country like Japan, compounds the story. There is a welfare system in Japan. The society is always depicted as a caring one. Nobody knows is hard to believe. The landlord, the merchand at the store, the clerks at the store, the girl from the school, the buddies at the arcade, the guy who gives money to the girl for her performance....all of them know what is going on. Unfortunately... people in the pursuit of happiness have very little time to care about someone else's business. It is a bleak reality. That is the reality lived by many kids in developed and underdeveloped countries. It brings to my mind the recollection that sometimes it is difficult to be just a kiddo.… Expand

Hollywood could never make a film this moving and real. I was totally absorbed in the kids plight and never once was aware that they were acting, as they seemed so natural. The scene with Akira and Yuki (and her squeeky shoes) returning dejectedly from the train station, after the birthday adventure outside the apartment, stays with me still. A beautiful film.

Donald, it's not the fact that the movie is restating a commonly held notion that kids should not be abandoned. Just because we hear about these things happening over and over and accept them as truth, rarely do we really comprehend what it means to the children; to grasp what it would like to be in such a sad situation. This movie took a notion and made it real. That is what is so shocking about it. With your attitude Donald, I am sure you must be doing a lot to help such children. Indeed, was two hours and twenty minutes and you still didn't get it's message.… Expand

The writer/director used his creative license to embellish the actual event and made it even more tragic and heartwrenching. But the fact remains that this is a stunning piece of work that needs to be witnessed. As other reviewers noted, I was completely immersed in the film I that the hours went unnoticed as well as the "acting" by these children. It was a very emotionally exhausting cinematic experience but it was also one of the most beautifully told stories I'd ever seen in my life.… Expand

This movie is strangely mesmerizing and heartbreaking. There was no drama, no crying in the movie but I have endured one of the most intensely painful experience. Powerful movie!!! The movie is well acted and directed. There is no wasted moment in the whole 141 minutes. Every scene is well chosen and has its own effect to the audiences. There are some silent scenes in which the camera just stays still, capturing the very normal, unnoticed things of their life; and these scenes are precious. The ones who call this movie "boring" watch too many typical, bomb-blowing, gun-firing Hollywood drama. The repetition of the film IS THE POINT!!! That's how life is. Look at your life for a second. Is that what life is, a series of repetitive thing: we get up in the morning, we eat breakfast, we go to work/ school, and then we go home, we have dinner, we sleep and then we wake up again the next morning. These children and their life is portrayed beautifully real. It is NOT BORING!!! It is mesmerizing and heartbreaking. Those who say it boring, again, watch too much cheesy Hollywood film. What do they expect? A car accident? A gun-fire? A murder? The thieves get in to their apartment? Look at your life. These things don't come around as often as they do in Hollywood films. This movie is emotionally exhausted but it is never a waste to experience something like this. POWERFUL. Oh, and to Potechi who finds it is unbelievable to have a junior high/ high school outsider join the kids, I just want to say that for me, it is totally believable. You cannot use your cynical, protective, and doubtful sense of the adult to try to make sense the kid's world. Look at the details in the movie or the children who play at any park in real life. They play together. They laugh together. Only the adults are the one who are lonely, cynical, isolated and masked. The movie is utterly real and precious. A MUST SEE. What you experience in the movie maybe is what the four kids are experiencing themselves. The movie puts you in their life and make you experience it. So if you feel mind-numbing or bored or curious (about the mother) or heartbroken or emotionally drained or repressed, I think it would probably be what the children are enduring. Hope you will appreciate it.… Expand

One of the most powerful and emotional movies I have ever been blessed enough to watch. Yuya Yagira's performance as Akira is perfect, hence why he won Best Actor. The young Akira's eyes change throughout the movie, from the innocence at the beginning to the hard, mournful look at the end. We see the mother's (who is played by You, a Japanese Pop Star) true personality when she questions Akira why she cannot be happy. This is the final tie cut between the two, and you can see it. I honestly think the flow of this movie makes you forget that it is over 2 hours long. In the middle of the movie, we can see that Akira's frustration gets the best of him when he pushes Shigeru away for the first time. In all honesty, this movie shows the pain and hardships of life through the eyes of children. That is what makes this movie so great. It makes us re-think ourselves and our beliefs.… Expand

That's awesome movie! It's not only sad but also hummanity. Even the movie made in Japan and subtitle in English. You can feel how sad and warm feeling is.

It's a great movie. Slow, yes. Sad, yes. It has not much of an ending, and for a movie about 4 abandoned kids, it has little melodrama and minimal cutesy stuff. Which is great - you can imagine if this movie was Hollywood how many cliches and pounds of cheese would have been dumped onto this movie. Some reviewers said it may be too long, I think, but I didn't sense the length. Anyway, it's a great movie, but subdued and sad.… Expand

"Flowers in the Attic"? Now I know how my professor felt when I handed in a paper that compared Linda Loman (Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman) to Janet Leigh's character in "The Manchurian Candidate". This spirited review cracked me up because as I was watching "Nobody Knows", "Gilligan's Island" floated through my mind. Those castaways sure had a lot of company, but their existence always went unreported when their deserted isle-guests returned to civilization. In "Nobody Knows", the title proves to be inadequate, because somebody does know about the plight of these theoretical orphans, but their ongoing descent into poverty goes unmentioned to the proper authorities by an ostracized schoolgirl, a trio of stepfathers, two convenience store workers, and a landlord. There's no rescue. But seriously, "Nobody Knows" is a pretty spectacular example of how digital video can capture realism and put the viewer in a present tense frame-of-mind. Documenting the banal routine of these kids make intellectual sense, and is not a needless art-house flourish. The lives of these throwaway children have stopped. And yes, it's mind-numbing for the audience, which is the point Kore-eda is trying to make; it's mind-numbing for the kids, too, living without structure, without hope. Kore-eda is such a mature filmmaker, only now do I realize that a baseball scene might've been a fantasy of Akira's (Yuya Yagiri) to fit in with mainstream society. Yagiri and his three siblings do an exemplary job of existing.… Expand

Purely and simply brilliant. The most moving of all the films I saw at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival.

A subtle but devastating film which gets the audience inside this boy's head and heart. The acting is so natural, restrained yet emotional that it feels like a documentary.

Heart breaking, so much more because its a true story.

I just watched this movie and man was it great... it isn't your normal movie. If you want a movie with action this isn't it. It was slow and calm all the way through the two hours and twenty-one minutes. But it showed how these kids grew up and bonded... its a must see if you like eastern style movies.

I happened to catch this film on cable several nights ago. In a word, it's ‘gripping.’ It is one of those rare films that will resonate deep within your psyche. One of the most moving films I've ever seen in my life. I understand that the young actor won an award in Cannes - well deserved. But how tragic that this was based on true events, and even more tragic that such events continue to happen in our world.… Expand

A must-see for fans of Japanese movies an incredible movie

The movie was good but could've used some serious cutting. The film also lost it's realism near the end for me because of the children's unnatural, unwavering behaviour. It's pushing it already to think that the 3 siblings would act in this certain manner but adding a juniorhigh/highschool outsider to the bunch makes it the more unbelievable.

Amazing film, I'm pressed for a better way to describe it, but I'm at a loss for words. Absolutely amazing.

An intense and sad film that left me emotionally drained at the end, and yes, in tears. Not only is this the best U.S. release of 2005 (I know it was released in Japan in 2004), this is one of the best films I've seen in the last 10 years.

Completely and utterly moving.

Watching the suffocation of childhood amidst the concrete of the city is hard indeed. These four children are exceptional in their performances--so much so that it's easy to forget that this is a movie. If you'd like to feel your way into their world, this is the movie to see. Resonant, elegiac, haunting, and filled with sorrow, this movie will remind you that even small gestures of kindness can be life-saving at times, and that the capacity of the human soul spans well beyond the capacity of human cruelty.… Expand

It has been a while since I saw a film with this much humanity. That is, until I saw acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda's latest, Nobody Knows, about a quartet of siblings left to fend for themselves. It's heartbreaking, just thinking about some of these random moments subtly displayed onscreen. The look on an adolescent girl's face when her mom paints her nails. A little boy making silly faces in the mirror. A little girl's scribbling of stick people on a gas bill that has been months overdue... I can go on. I wish I can put into words, or convey in some sort of way, the flowing of rampant emotions experienced when I saw these images: about how much it hit so close to home, how much it reminded me of my own family. But I can't. I guess it simply cannot be articulated in such a concise, simplified manner. You'll just have to see it for yourself.… Expand

A great movie with a subtle touch.

Many moments of many emotions -- joy, hatred, peace, failure, strength, fear, love, disgust, power, resignation, disillusionment, success, grief, acceptance. The more Akira and his sister assume responsiblity beyond their years, the more terrifying the possibility that they will fail. A bit overlong. But in two hours we view a lifetime of emotions lived for only six months within four walls.

Best film I have seen in years. Very emotional and takes your breath away. The increased level of depression as the film progresses is a mere look into reality that we all take granted for.