Koreeda's Nobody Knows:the Structure of a Fictional Documentary

Abstract

Koreeda Hirokazu’s 2004 film Nobody Knows, although inspired by a real event, is a work of fiction that approaches its subject in a way that, due both to the unconventional circumstances of its filming, and to its apparently straightforward, naturalistic plot, looks like that of a documentary. This paper examines a number of motifs – the monorail, suitcases and other bags, a tear, the telephone, the landing of the children’s apartment, bills, nail polish, and hands – that give the film not only structural coherence, but also powerful symbolic weight.