GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

estronbase This film is too sad.Yes, it was well made and acted but I honestly can not understand how anyone could claim to enjoy this miserable story.

nascent I was quite disappointed with this movie, it was very slow, lacking in character arcs, plot or emotion. The abandonment and the 'fending for themselves' is interesting, but it's half shot like a documentary, half shot like a progressive drama. But there's very little to take from the film. The characters are pretty shallow, despite the great acting and close-up shots. A movie this reminded me a lot of is King Of the Hill, a fantastically made movie about a boy left to fend for himself as his parents have to leave. There's adventure, a coming-of-age character arc, a plot with strong overtones. Very strongly written characters in addition to the good cast. Obviously they're not identical films, but I would recommend King Of The Hill tenfold over this. I'm a hugely into Asian cinema, but other than good camera-work, there's very little to this film.

underwearhero I've seen it for the first time maybe like a year ago but, was just looking through some of it again and noticed how many good scenes there are in this film. It also has great atmosphere that pulls you in partly due to the cinematography and overall realism. The kids acting is very believable. Especially the oldest and the two youngest kids. I guess at some points the two youngest aren't even acting, they're playing themselves and it looks so natural that it greatly increases the realism of the film. After seeing this film I thought I could never be fully immersed in a normal fiction film. I felt like I had watched a documentary but then I remembered that this wasn't a documentary but a fiction based on real events. This is a film that makes you forget you're watching a film. And this is not the case with a lot of films these days for me. The soundtrack is subtle and moving. I'm bothered by the fact that I could have just missed this film and not seen it. I found it on IMDb. Who knows how many other good films are out there that I just missed because there wasn't a big budget promotion for them.

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.