Yo,
"Maborosi" was impressive. "Nobody Knows" is stunning. It's based on a
true story of a women who abandons her children. Just leaves them,
after a while, to fend for themselves in an apartment. Each child has
a different father and the fathers aren't anywhere around. Any number
of other directors would go for the sentimental and manipulative
aspects of the story and the interactions between the children (aged 4
to 12, or so) would be played for the pathos. Hirokazu Koreeda is more
interested in presenting the realities of the situation and working
with some tight cinematography he elicits some really good
performances from the kids. (Y=C5=ABya Yagira who plays the eldest, a boy
of 12, beat out Tom Hanks -- among others -- to win best actor at
Cannes.)
Some situations just don't have closure or resolution and apparently
-- at least based on the two films that I've seen -- that isn't
something that concerns Koreeda. He's worth seeing just for that. I
have another of his films on my reserve list and I'm pacing around
waiting for it.
William
www.williamahearn.com |