Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

GyatsoLa A semi-fictionalized adaption of a true incident where a single mother abandons four children to live by themselves seems the material of exploitation or empty moralizing. But Kore-eda proves himself one of the finest film makers in the world today with this straight up masterpiece - a gorgeous, searingly intelligent, beautifully made film.One of the great strengths of this film is that he never takes the easy way out and judges the adults or tries to score easy points about an atomized, uncaring society. The mother is portrayed as child like herself, narcissistic, but more deluded than evil, she somehow convinces herself that her 12 year old son is capable of looking after the family. The adults are just regular people, going about their lives without feeling the need to ask awkward questions about the dirty looking children who turn up sometimes at playgrounds or wander around parks. The only people who suspect these children are abandoned are teenagers working in local shops, who are cowed into not taking the initiative, instead just offering little acts of kindness to the kids, accepting at face value the lies given to them.This is perhaps the most successful film ever made which gives a genuine child's eyed view of the world. The acting by the child actors is simply astonishing - completely naturalistic. The way in which these fundamentally nice kids try their best to deal with the situation they are landed in, but which inevitably falls apart is deeply moving and entirely convincing. The film is long, but is entirely engrossing, and enlightened with moments of real beauty and grace. The scene where the older boy and a lonely girl he meets bring his dead sister to the airport, where he always said he would show here the airplanes landing is quite stunning. To avoid sentimentality or exploitation in scenes like this requires a film maker with deep humanity, as well as immense technical skill. The film is not the easiest of viewing, but after seeing this film, you will never forget it. Absolutely essential.

bandw This story of four children abandoned in a Tokyo apartment by their mother tried my patience. The oldest child, Akira, was more mature at age twelve than his goofy mother.I found many scenes that could have lasted but a few seconds went on for what seemed like minutes. For example, there are several scenes of Akira running that just go on and on. The movie could have easily been trimmed by an hour. If the goal of drawing things out was to have the audience suffer along with the kids, then the movie was successful on that count. The effect on me was to lose patience and have the potentially powerful emotional content squeezed out. By sheer force of will I resisted hitting the fast forward button.It was up to the young actor Yûra Yagira to carry the movie, and he did an admirable job. I imagine it was the director's skill in being able to get Yagira to express emotion through facial expression and body movement. It was interesting to see Yagira physically mature throughout the film and that was cleverly reflected in his character's development. Yagira was a child at the beginning, but was turning into a young man by the end.The predictability of the story also works against the slow pacing. If you turn four kids loose in a small apartment for the better part of a year with a money supply that has run out, then the result is pretty much inevitable. But any doubt about a conclusion that might have helped keep my attention was removed by a beginning scene that has Akira on a train looking disheveled and wearing a dirty T-shirt with holes in it.I get that this movie makes a comment on the depressing fact that the impersonality of large cities can allow this kind of situation to go unnoticed, or ignored, for so long. But some scenes stretch belief. Surely when the landlord came in and saw what was happening, she would have taken action. One of Akira's reasons for not going to the police or social services was that he was afraid the family would be split up, but I did not sense great closeness among the kids (each had a different father). Losing a sister was certainly not a step in maintaining family cohesion.The score often seemed inappropriate, invoking ironic humor when melancholy was called for.I was impressed with director Koreeda's "Still Walking," but I failed to connect with this movie.

batatas31 I really cannot believe why people like this movie. I've read comments where people are saying that this film is beautiful. Really? Someone could actually look at the suffering going on in this movie and enjoy it, let alone call it beautiful? My major fault with this movie is that is seems almost pointless. Why would anyone want to watch a group of kids suffering for 2 hours, because that pretty much sums up the whole movie. Honestly, you have to be sort of sick in the head to actually watch this film and think, "Wow, I'm so touched. I just watched these kids live incredibly miserable lives... I really enjoyed it. What a great movie." That right there basically sums up the only reason why someone would like this movie, because unlike other sad movies, this movie does not contain values to be learned or at least enjoyable scenes.So to sum it all up, I would only recommend this movie to those who enjoy watching others suffer. I, for one, don't enjoy watching others suffer, and so I give this movie a 1 out of 10.

Chrysanthepop Hirokazu Koreeda's 'Dare Mo Shiranai' tells the heartbreaking story of four abandoned young siblings who struggle to survive in an apartment. The apartment was restricted to two people (where no little children were allowed). It is known that Akira and his mother were the only tenants thus the three other children are living in secret (and are not allowed to leave the apartment or make any noise in case the neighbours got suspicious). While Akira is the only one allowed to leave the apartment, he is forbidden to go to school. After their self-centred mother's long term departure due to her 'work', 12-year-old Akira, the eldest one, serves as a parent striving to provide food for his brother and sisters but he too is only a child and how will he, in a world run by adults, support his siblings? The director tells this unique story in a very heartfelt, sensitive way. 'Dare Mo Shiranai' is based on a true event (which was far more harrowing) but I can see that he might have been inspired by movies like 'Hotaru No Haka' and perhaps William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies'. With the minimal use of music, special effects the film has an unpolished look which makes the characters' sense of isolation and despair all the more authentic to the viewer. The whimsical background score is cleverly used and it brings a poetic feel. The child actors are excellent. It is Yûya Yagira who confidently carries the film but each one of these kids deliver very natural performances. It's hard to tell whether they were acting. Moreover because the film is sort of shot in documentary format it is easy to forget that one is watching a film. I wonder how the director got the kids to act so restrained. 'Dare Mo Shiranai' is a beautiful film that depicts the importance of a responsible adult figure in children's lives but it also demonstrates that children too are strong even though inexperienced. Yet, no matter what, the importance of a significant nurturing adult is crucial for a child's development.