"Nobody Knows" is a film based on true events, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. The film took 15 years from the writing of the script to the start of shooting, the filming took one and a half years, and the post-production took three months. What finally appeared in front of the audience was a very simple story that made people cry.
It was Hirokazu Kore-eda who used his usual simple style to describe a gloomy story in a calm way, expressing the true charm and infinite meaning of life.
"Nobody Knows" tells the story of a single-parent family where four half-brothers and sisters lived alone after being abandoned by their mothers. The story starts from their lives bit by bit, and presents scenes such as warmth, bitterness, and helplessness one by one.
The film's main characters are a group of children, but it's not as hilarious as most children's films. We have always believed that a child's world should be pure, clean, and carefree. But Hirokazu Kore-eda is uncharacteristically dragging the children into the most realistic and cruel world. So, can they survive tenaciously with no one's protection and no one's knowledge?
This article analyzes Hirokazu Kore-eda's unique expression and the deeper meaning of the film in terms of presentation, characterization, and film theme.
Presentation method: take time as the main line, use details to drive the plot trend
In "Nobody Knows", a single mother gave birth to four children. The eldest son, Amin, was twelve years old. He was responsible for taking care of a younger brother and two younger sisters. When their mother left for the first time, she walked for a month. , and never came back after leaving for the second time.
Throughout the film, the four children waited for their mother for a long time. The spring, summer, autumn and winter passed gradually. Over time, they realized that their mother would never come back. But in the film, it was Hirokazu Koreeda who never mentioned time explicitly. He just subtly presented the passing time in different ways, thus driving the development of the plot.
① Write the time from festivals, sights, and people
The change of the seasons throughout the year is the cycle of time. In this cycle, there are festivals worth celebrating, different scenery, and different states of people.
When the mother of four children left, she said that she would be back for Christmas, but she did not come back on that day. This was one of the times; It is the time when the seasons change; Amin wears a scarf, his hair gradually grows longer, the children wear short sleeves, and their skin is sweaty. These are also the silent changes of time.
These detailed descriptions do not require a single word, but we can understand that time gradually slips away while the children are waiting.
②Write the time from the change of details
There are many details in the film. For example, one night, the mother painted the second daughter Kyoko red nail polish, and the next day, she left. It was Hirokazu Koreeda who told us about the time of her departure with a close-up of Kyoko's hand that was about to lose her nail polish.
For example, the box of crayons of the fourth daughter, Xiaoxue, was brand new at the beginning of the film, but only one crayon was left. Another example is the scene where Amin is silently reckoning, going to Xiaoxue's father to get the money.
With the passage of time, many items are slowly being worn away, and these items are getting less and less. From another point of view, it is a sign that their mother will be away longer and longer.
③ Use real time directly
We know that the time pictures presented in many films may be deliberately created, because if a film is shot in a few months, there is no way to shoot the four seasons of the year. The special thing about this movie is that the four seasons in it are not deliberately created, but the real four seasons.
It was Hirokazu Kore-eda that took a year and a half to make this movie, and the real time was really captured by him. The most real thing should be that the children in it really grew up a year as the time passed in the film. When we watch movies, we will find that children have an invisible change, which is actually the trace left by time on them.
It was Hirokazu-eda who described real life with real time. This description of time not only showed his amazing patience, but also brought the film infinitely close to the state of life, which very few people can do.
So, in the unique time expression of Hirokazu Koreeda, we can see the plot move slowly along his perspective, as real as everyone's life. I think it's not so much that it drives the plot, it's better to say that this is the nature of time.
Characterization: From the behavior of characters, see their psychological changes and growth
The protagonist in the film, Amin, is given a heavy responsibility in his identity. Every time my mother left, she would ask Amin to take good care of his younger siblings. However, although Amin is an older brother, he is actually just a child.
A 12-year-old boy experienced a more cruel reality than adults. It was Hirokazu Koreeda who did not blindly let him bear the heavy responsibilities of his brother, but gave him some children's willfulness. To this end, Amin completed three stages of change and growth in the film.
①Be well-behaved and sensible, and still have dreams
Because of the special identities of these children, their mother claimed that their father was abroad and that there was only one son, Amin. The other three children were locked in the house all day, unable to go out and not be found by anyone.
When my mother went to work, several younger siblings were taken care of by Amin, from buying and cooking food, to fulfilling their little wishes, to comforting their loss of mother's departure with white lies. He tried his best to protect his younger siblings.
During this period, the boy Amin was a little precocious and very sensible. But he still has children's dreams, such as telling his mother that he hopes he can go to school, because he still has support at that time.
② rebellious and willful, eager for friendship
When his mother didn't come back for a long time, Amin was alone and ran into two boys who were playing game consoles. I used to spend money and calculate it, but now I buy it casually, take my friends home to play games, and follow them to steal things. All of these, let a boy gradually lost.
Unfortunately, in the end, the so-called friends did not take Amin seriously, and the friendship he bought with money just passed away like running water.
In my opinion, this period is a kind of release and longing for Amin. The long absence of his mother has put him under incomparable pressure, but he cannot tell his younger siblings, so he is eager to gain friendship and release his inner pressure.
This is a kind of deep helplessness, but also a kind of deep sadness!
③Mature and stable, tenacious and tenacious
The average person's life may take decades to truly mature, but Amin in the film has done what others can do for decades in just a few months.
Without him, just because of the word life. On the top, he has no parental protection, and on the bottom, he has younger brothers and sisters to take care of. When he realizes from the false friendship, he has begun to grow up slowly.
He no longer imagined that his mother would come back, and he began to recognize the essence of life. In order to survive, he guarded the back door of the supermarket, waiting for expired food that the clerk didn't want. When the water and electricity were cut off at home, he went to the nearby park to collect water. The younger sister unfortunately fell to her death, and he and the girl Saki buried her in a place where the plane could be seen every day.
There are no tears in this film, but it is more distressing than endless tears. With a tenacious life, he leads his younger brothers and sisters to survive in an unknown house. Separation of life and death, life is difficult, let a little boy finally mature.
The changes in these three stages, for the audience, are quietly shocking the soul. Although there are many choices in life, there are some responsibilities that make people have no choice. It is what Hirokazu Kore-eda wants to shape, not just a character, but an extremely tenacious spirit.
Movie Theme: Tragedy that no one knows, there is still hope of love
No one knows the four words, especially in the film. For example, when a single mother changed houses, she brought her two children in a suitcase. When my sister finally died, she was also quietly taken away in a suitcase.
They struggled to survive in a house that was unknown for a long time. If starting from reality, I think that no one knows the deep meaning, intertwined with the reverence of life, the praise of love and love, and the meaning of loneliness.
①Unknown tragedy is an irresponsible indictment of adults
The four children in the film have the same mother, but their fathers are different. Even at the end, we don't know who their fathers are or what they are called. The irresponsible attitude of adults allows innocent lives to be born and become lives hidden in a house that no one knows about.
Even more frightening is that the child's mother abandoned her four children in order to live with her boyfriend.
This film is based on true events, which are real and brutal, and there may be many more of them.
It was Hirokazu Kore-eda who exposed this cruel truth with a simple description, thus accusing the maker of this tragedy. Life is worthy of awe, but an irresponsible attitude is a desecration of life.
②The persistence that no one knows is the praise of love and responsibility
In one of the scenes, a cashier asked Amin why he didn't call the police? Amin said that if the police call the police, the four of them can no longer be together.
So in order for the four people not to be separated, they insisted on continuing to hide this secret that no one knew.
After calling the police, they can get help and food, but choose to continue this life. It should be the best quality in the innocent world of children.
They experienced hardships in life at a young age, but they have love in their hearts and the company of their family. In the view of Hirokazu Koeda, although the world is cruel and ruthless, love will never be consumed, and will become a belief that people adhere to.
③There is too much loneliness in this world, no one knows and can’t tell
If companionship is a short-lived happiness, then loneliness is the norm in life.
Just like Amin's sister, she came to the house in a box, and finally died in another box. Just like Amin's home, there is endless sadness hidden in it, but it is covered with playfulness.
And what about life? Everyone will encounter some things they want to hide in their hearts, and everyone will endure the loneliness that no one can tell at some point. This is the state of life, everyone has to endure it, and then go on without looking back.
I don't think we need to avoid something that looks bad. Life is a complex combination. Loneliness is not necessarily another meaning of life.
At the end of the film, there are the tenacious backs of several children, who are still unknown and still trying to survive. This is a tragedy, but there is not a single tear in it, no shouting or howling. In Hiro-eda's peaceful depiction, there is only the most real touch of life, revealing an incomparably powerful force.
The open ending of "Nobody Knows" was probably intentional by Hirokazu Koreeda, because we know the outcome of that real event, and it was a complete tragedy. But we should never give up hope, should we? If you can't see the ending, maybe it's the best ending. This is the last hope that the director is Hirokazu Ededa left for the audience.
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