Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Melanie Bouvet The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Anirudh 'Nobody Knows' is a deeply moving film. It sheds light on a disturbing reality that we may not be aware of or may not even want to think about but definitely exists in the world we live in. The plot says it all: A group of children try to stick together and live a 'normal' life after their so-called mother leaves them one day, never to return. I was amazed by how well those small kids played their respective roles in such a serious film. If you like thought-provoking films, you should definitely watch this one. In this day and age when teenagers throw tantrums at their parents over petty issues, this film will make you feel lucky that you even have a parent or a guardian who looks after you and cares about you.The film is also aptly titled as despite the inconceivable situations that these kids have been through, you never know what the future holds for them but you definitely hope things somehow get better.

leminhha93 Nobody Knows tells a story of how four children, abandoned by their mother and never officially recognized by authority, struggle to survive on themselves in modern-day affluent Japan. This interesting premise, coupled with the film's wide critical acclaim on both IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, compelled me into renting the DVD. As the credit rolls, all I was left with were disappointed expectations. Here is why.Character development is what we look for in realist films. With Bicycle Thieves, we feel for the father's desperate struggle to feed his family. With Lilya 4-ever, we feel for Lilya's innocence and pain in being exploited of her dream of a better life. Nobody Knows does a mediocre job, at best, in developing characters that gain interest and sympathy from the audience. Even when the film's primary subjects are children -- the people we always care most about, I did not feel too much of the sadness and worry one is bound to have witnessing a group of children go through hardships and struggle. I did not know what to feel about the brother character; is he supposed to be a caring and courageous brother, or a normal kid who succumbs to peer pressure and just wants to have fun? The mother character is supposed to be a grossly negligent, irresponsible, immature, and loathsome person; yet I could hardly feel anything against her. In other words Nobody Knows's characters are forgettable at best, even when the young actors' performances are absolutely wonderful -- you just wish the script develops the characters in such a way that we can feel more for them.The film's highly realist depiction of the children's day-to-day life also makes it rather uneventful and dull; many scenes just drag on without anything really happening. A 140-minute runtime is probably over the top -- compared to Bicycle Thieves, a film with similar themes that delivers within just 90 minutes. For cinematography and camera-work, I felt perhaps they should focus more on the cramped and messy conditions of the apartment rather than on outdoor shots.In brief, what Nobody Knows delivers is a sad and poignant story about children's vulnerability and the loss of innocence. It gives the viewer powerful emotional impacts as well as perspectives into a human experience. However, what the film does not deliver is compelling character development and gripping storytelling -- something I consider to be of essential importance in making a movie great and memorable. My rating of Nobody Knows: 7 stars out of 10.

Paul Donovan I watched this movie in 2005 on the flight to Osaka. I couldn't believe the story. I couldn't believe that this could ever happen in Japan where children's lives are controlled every minute by teachers. When I got access to Google and checked out the story I couldn't believe this movie story was based on a real life situation. The young lead actor is beautiful, his skills in this story belie what he could do (hope he gets more movie opportunities). The story needs this kind of lead role. Sadly I found the other kids' acting to be basic -- but the story really relies on the lead actor. He needs an Oscar or some award for his work in this movie. Watch this movie. But be sure you are not distracted, watch it from beginning to end. You will be crying at the end. But not necessarily crying from sadness but from pleasure that the kids finally have their act together. But also sadness because they still have a long way to go.

dschmeding Sure "Nobody knows" has an interesting premise with 4 children forced to live on their own and how they are coping with it. But I nearly fell asleep several times through the movie because the way of its storytelling (if you can call it that because it pretty much leads nowhere) is unbelievably slow. The movie starts of with the family moving into a new flat, at that point its just the single mom with the oldest son Akira who introduces herself to the landlord while the younger kids are smuggled in the flat in suitcases and oldest sister Kyoko arrives by train. You never quite get to know how things came to become like this... the kids are hidden and like the title says nobody knows about their existence because except for Akira who becomes kind of the caring father for the family no kid is allowed to leave the flat. From here on the movie just deals with their everyday routine... the mother, a prostitute as I expect, is absent more and more until she disappears and just sends cash by mail. She is depicted as a loving yet kind of childlike mother who can't take the responsibility.The fathers are all different guys who are introduced shortly as non caring slackers but I never understood why these kids all don't go to school with their mother telling them they can't because they don't have fathers. A lot is left pretty wide open and I guess the mother is supposed to have some mental defect, otherwise the whole thing is pretty unbelievable. When she meets a man and disappears Akira finally becomes the father part of the family trying to cope with feeding the kids and taking care of the flat while finding some friends and trying to live a normal kids live which obviously fails in the less than normal surrounding. Bills don't get paid, the kids lose electricity and then water and try to get by getting water from a playground fountain and doing laundry there. Later in the movie they leave their flat but it seems like nobody cares if they do and honestly the viewer cares less too because the movie is so slow with so little dialog and some scenes stretched to a seemingly endless level. The characters sure are interesting, especially Akira and the sweet little Yuki amidst that mess she couldn't choose. It looks like Akira wants to keep the kids together because he fears they could be separated to several child homes if someone finds out.But thats about all you know... the daily routine is getting more desperate, the state of the flat and the kids clothes is deteriorating and finally Yuki gets ill. What makes it hard to get into the movie beside the extremely slow pacing is that the kids are not depicted as a loving family but rather like just trying to get by. The barely talk and seem separate so their fun time strolls as well as Yukis dramatic burial (sure, you get a piece of drama too) seem distant and right then the movie ends. Mother keeps sending cash by mail, everything just goes on. I pretty much felt left down after watching this boring movie with an end like this. Seeing the 8point votes I really wonder if we watched the same movie because since the cinematography was rather average and the music close to non existing there is not much that makes me want to give more than 4points to this one. Only for people who are into slow artsy dramas with endless shots.