JETAA NY at the MOVIES
\nNOBODY KNOWS<\/p>\n
(Winter 2005 Issue)<\/p>\n <\/span>JETAA NY recently gave away several free tickets for a premier U.S. screening of Hirokazu Koreeda\u2019s hit film, \u201cNobody Knows\u201d at the The based-on-a-true-story account of 4 children left by their mother to fend for themselves in an apartment, \u201cNobody Knows\u201d is shot In the beginning of the film, the mother is present, albeit distracted, and often away from home.\u00a0 We learn rather than the one child The remarkable thing about the film is that it can be viewed simultaneously as a horror movie and as a sympathetic portrayal of It is a poignant story on multiple levels, including the superb acting by the child stars, the gorgeous cinematography, the There were moments of sheer beauty: the boy running as the camera runs with him through the streets of Tokyo by night; the joy of A question that remained in my mind was what made the children stay quiet for so long? It was as if the shame that they felt, and the While it is easy for certain of us to sit in judgment in a movie theater, or at least scratch our heads thinking, \u201cHow could no one Coming out of a country as ruthlessly non-interventionist even in daily life as modern Japan, where a vast majority of young urban JETAA NY at the MOVIES NOBODY KNOWS (Winter 2005 Issue) JETAA NY recently gave away several free tickets for a premier U.S. screening of Hirokazu Koreeda\u2019s hit film, \u201cNobody Knows\u201d at the Lincold Plaza Cinemas.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what the ticket recipients had to say about the film. The based-on-a-true-story account of 4 children left by their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":59,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-408","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\nLincold Plaza Cinemas.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what the ticket recipients had to say about the film.<\/p>\n
\nin a documentary style with prompted improvisation by the cast of amateur child actors. Left alone, the children cope well at first
\nthen slowly sink into desperation as they realize \u201cMom\u201d (played by mono-monikered actress \u201cYou\u201d) is never coming back to rescue
\nthem.
\n(Isaac Leader)<\/p>\n
\nshe claims in public, whose father, she tells people, is \u201cworking abroad,\u201d that she has three other illegitimate children, who she hides
\nfrom public view by not enrolling them in school or letting them leave the house.\u00a0 Although that is extreme and abusive, I confess that
\npart of my heart was initially with the mother, who I pictured as a victim of modern society which offers precious little support to
\nworking mothers, not to mention unmarried working mothers.\u00a0 She leaves early in the morning for work (we assume), often not
\nreturning until late in the evening.\u00a0 But when she does return, we see a few tender moments of hair brushing, nail painting, omiyage-
\ngiving, and study help, all of which leads us to believe that while she is eccentric, she really does love her children and is doing the
\nbest she knows how.
\n(Nancy DeBroka)<\/p>\n
\ninnocents caught in a tragedy, much the way \u201cMonster\u201d showed the humanity and heartbreak of a murderess. It succeeds on both
\ncounts, helped along by artful camera work, endearing characters, moments of levity, and a beautiful, haunting score, posing serious
\nquestions about social responsibility along the way.
\n(Isaac Leader)<\/p>\n
\ninterweaving of the city soundtrack and most importantly, by the way Kore-eda allows the storytelling to develop in a truly non-
\nHollywood fashion.\u00a0 For the viewer, there\u2019s no overproduction and manufactured silliness, just a unique chance to view the innocence
\nand charm of childhood in a real-world setting.
\n(Bryan DeBroka)<\/p>\n
\nthe little one when she is taken to wait for the mother at the train station; the children getting to have a kind of Christmas celebration.
\n(Anonymous)<\/p>\n
\nneed to keep their \u201clittle secret\u201d was more important than their safety.\u00a0 After they realized that their mother had truly abandoned
\nthem, why didn\u2019t they go to the police or child protective services? Even if they had gotten split up, surely their situation would have
\nbeen better than trying to make it on their own. It made me wonder what the CPS (child protective services) is like in Japan, and what
\nhappens to children that are abandoned by their parents.\u00a0 Where do they go?
\n(Maura Goggins)<\/p>\n
\nknow?\u201d it really makes one wonder how much responsibility each of us bears for those less fortunate. Who is the \u201cNobody\u201d of the title
\nactually, and do they have a responsibility to know, to help?
\n(Isaac Leader)<\/p>\n
\nwomen report being groped on the subways and three rescued NGO hostages last year were publicly humiliated and driven into
\nhiding by government\/media bullying for \u201cmeddling\u201d in Iraq, this film would seem intrinsically to be a rebuke to this \u201chear no, see no,
\nspeak no evil\u201d tendency. . . \u201d.\u00a0 Bravo to Mr. Koreeda for striking, intentionally or not, at the real problem within the heart of Japan\u2019s
\nstruggle for respect via \u201cinternationalization\u201d: a massive blind spot when it comes to recognizing the humanity of the \u201cother\u201d, or
\n\u201coutsider\u201d. This tendency was most visible to the world in aspects of Japan\u2019s military adventurism leading up to and during WWII, but
\nit would seem that a perceived continuing inability to reconcile old race-based nationalistic notions with an increasingly
\nmulticultural and interconnected world is a primary reason why Japan has not assumed a more prominent role in civic society,
\ndespite huge economic gains and gifts to former colonies and victims.
\n(Isaac Leader)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"