NOBODY KNOWS (DAREMO SHIRANAI) (2003) JAPAN directed by KORE-EDA Hirokazu Prix d'interprétation masculine (2004)

Actors

YAGIRA Yuuya
KITAURA Ayu
KIMURA Hiei
SHIMIZU Momoko
KAN Hanae
You

Synopsis

Four siblings live happily with their mother in a small apartment in Tokyo. In fact, the children all have different fathers and have never been to school. The very existence of three of them has been hidden from the landlord. One day, the mother leaves behind a little money and a note, charging her oldest boy to look after the others. And so begins the children's odyssey, a journey nobody knows.

Extracts of Dialogues

AKIRA (12 years old): When will you let us go to school? THE MOTHER: What's this "school this, school that"? Who needs to go to school, anyway? Plenty of famous people never even went to school in the first place. AKIRA: Like who? THE MOTHER: How should I know? But plenty of them... AKIRA: You're so selfish, mother. THE MOTHER: How can you say that? You want to know who's really selfish? Your father's the one who's selfish, up and disappearing like that...

Best Actor Award to Yuuya Yagira for his role in "Nobody Knows"

The Best Actor Award went to the 14-year old Yuuya Yagira for his role in Nobody Knows directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. With Yuuya Yagira back in Japan, it was director Hirokazu Kore-eda who collected the award on his behalf. At the post-awards press conference, the director gave his impressions. “This prize is deserved, because we worked for a year with the children, and I think that you can see their progress in the film during that year [...] I chose Yagira at an audition. What made me choose him was his eyes. [...] Yagira is at middle school and he had to return to Japan to take his exams. I just telephoned him to tell him the good news, and he was very happy. He thinks he failed his exam, but he hopes that with this prize, his teacher might be more understanding.”

Flashback to Saturday, May 22

Jury President Quentin Tarantino brought the 57th Cannes Festival to a close by awarding the Palme d'Or to US director Michael Moore, who received the top prize for Fahrenheit 9/11, his anti-George W. Bush documentary. The South Korean director Park Chan-wook took away the Grand Prix for his film, Old Boy. Among the other award winners were Maggie Cheung, awarded Best Actress for her performance in Clean, and 14-year-old Yuuya Yagira, winner of Best Actor for his role in Nobody Knows. After the announcement of the winners, a party was held to celebrate the 80 years of Metro Goldwyn Mayer, the studio that produced the Festival's closing film, De-Lovely. Director and producer Irwin Winkler, actors Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, as well as singers Lara Fabian, Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette, all made the trip to Cannes to present this musical based on the life of composer Cole Porter. The day at Cannes was also marked by the prize-giving ceremony for Un Certain Regard – top prize to Ousmane Sembène's Moolaadé – and the official screening of The General, accompanied by the orchestral music of Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi.

Best Actor Award to Yuuya Yagira for his role in "Nobody Knows"

The Best Actor Award goes to the 14-year-old Yuuya Yagira for his role in Nobody Knows by Hirokazu Kore-eda. With Yuuya Yagira back in Japan, it was director Hirokazu Kore-eda who collected the award on his behalf. At the post-awards press conference, the director gave his impressions. “This prize is deserved, because we worked for a year with the children, and I think that you can see their progress in the film during that year [...] I chose Yagira at an audition. What made me choose him was his eyes. [...] Yagira is at middle school and he had to return to Japan to take his exams. I just telephoned him to tell him the good news, and he was very happy. He thinks he failed his exam, but he hopes that with this prize, his teacher might be more understanding.”

Flashback to Thursday, May 13, 2004

A Japanese drama had the honour of opening this year's selection of films in competition. Nobody Knows from director Kore-eda Hirokazu is inspired by the true story of a young mother forced to abandon her four children born from different fathers. Also in competition was Neapolitan director Paolo Sorrentino with Le Conseguenze dell'Amore (Consequences of Love). The director's second film deals with a man who lives as a recluse in a hotel and the secret that keeps him there. The other major event of the day was the arrival on the Croisette of Troy. The Hollywood version of the Iliad, screening out of competition, gave the film's German director Wolfgang Petersen and its star Brad Pitt their first chance to cross Cannes' red carpet. The day also saw the opening of the Un Certain Regard section with the screening of Léa Fazer's Bienvenue en Suisse (Welcome to Switzerland). A comedy of manners in which Denis Podalydès tries to claim a large inheritance from his uncles, it is the director's first feature.

Competition: "Nobody Knows" by Kore-eda Hirokazu

Three years after Distance, which also screened in competition at the Festival, Nobody Knows is Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu's fourth fiction feature. The film is inspired by a real event known as the “Affair of the Four Abandoned Children of Nishi-Sugamo” that took place 16 years ago, in 1988. Born to different fathers, the abandoned children never went to school and didn't legally exist, their births were never declared. Abandoned by their mother, they lived on their own for six months. Kore-eda Hirokazu shows the “richness” of their life as seen from inside. The four children do their best to survive on their own: they devise and follow their own set of rules for their cocooned universe, based on their innocent longing for their mother. The film also shows their wary fascination towards the outside world, their anxiety over their increasingly desperate situation, their inarticulate cries, their kindness to each other, and their determination to survive on their wits and courage.

Press Conference: "Nobody Knows"

Accompanied by the five children - Yagira Yuuya, Kitaura Ayu, Kimura Hiei, Shimizu Momoko and Kan Hanae - who have the leading roles in his film and You, the actress who plays their mother, director Kore-eda Hirokazu responded to journalist questions about his competition feature, Daremo Shiranai (Nobody Knows). Here are a few excerpts: Kore-eda Hirokazu, who drew his inspiration from a real event that took place 16 years ago, on how the project began: "I often work with real events, sometimes for documentaries, sometimes for fiction. For Nobody Knows I did not want a journalistic style; I wanted to show how the children grow up and what they must shed in order to become grown-ups. I felt that fiction was more suitable to this story.” Kore-eda Hirokazu on his intentions: "I wanted to make a film about Tokyo, the city where I was born and still live today, and also show how children inhabit this city. But I also wanted to make a timeless, personal work. It's a film about childhood. When I was young, I was also afraid that my mother wouldn't come home from work at night. I wanted to revisit my memories and share them with everyone.” The young Kitaura Ayu who plays the role of Kyoko on his film experience: "Acting in this film gave me an opportunity to experience what the children must have experienced 16 years ago. I learned a lot and thank the director for that.” Kore-eda Hirokazu on the mother: "I wanted the mother to be human. If the filmgoers leave the theatre with a bad view of the mother, I will feel like I missed my mark. I wanted people to understand her and that is why I chose You, who radiates a strong human spirit.”