Thursday, June 15, 2006

誰も知らない: Nobody Knows

At the age of 14, young Yuya Yagira was named Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Nobody Knows.

I'm back in the good ol' US of A for my best friend's wedding, which finally gave me a chance to see Daremo Shiranai, or Nobody Knows, a film I have wanted to see since before coming to Japan in 2004.Seems you can take the gaijin out of Japan, but you can't take Japan out of the gaijin (^-^)/

Inspired by the "Affair of the Four Abandoned Children of Nishi-Sugamo," Nobody Knows is based on the true story of 4 children abandoned by their mother in Tokyo in 1988. Each born of a different father, the children's births were never declared, making them legally non-existant. Even in the real world their existance reamined a secret. Never allowed to attend school, only the oldest boy was even permitted to leave their small apartment. Abandoned by their mother, the children lived alone for six months, and were only discovered when one of the young girls, weakend from malnutrition, died in an accident, tragically ending their desperate adventure. Unbelievably, not one inhabitant of the small apartment building was ever aware of the existance of the 3 young children.

For anyone interested in modern Japan, Nobody Knows is an amazing, moving, and heart-breaking work of art, offering a rare and fascinating glimpse into the culture of modern Japan, and a thought-provoking study of human nature.

I have a lot to say about this movie, but no time! Until then, rent it. Watch it. Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

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