Studio Ghibli's "Hotaru no haka" (grave of the fireflies) came to mind after reflecting on the uncathartic "Dare mo Shiranai" (Nobody knows). While the former is an animation (by Hayao Miyazaki's studio nonetheless), it is an effective tearjerker. The impact of Nobody Knows is the casual eye the camera takes to document the degeneration of a family of children. Unlike Grave, Nobody does not have an anti-war agenda to preach the human tragedy with an orchestra score. It's about the real time Japan that nobody knows, and the last glance the movie throws at the spectator is a dagger retitling the movie Nobody Cares. Like "Ponette," the movie is told from the unpatronizing perspective of the children, and the film follows minute details which thread the challenge it is for them to simply live.
Review of Nobody Knows
