While Mom was away

Nobody Knows

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Running time: 141 minutes
Language: Japanese
Currently showing

The Japanese, I used to think, were the most child-loving people on the face of the planet. A generation ago, TV moms were selflessly devoted to their offspring, forever bringing them bowls of hot, nutritious noodles as they crammed for those all-important school entrance exams. TV dads, though workaholics almost to a man, usually had time for a game of catch or a few gruff words of fatherly advice. Like the moms, they were always going to be there, come what may, for what they called their kodakara -- literally, "child treasures."

Now, having raised kids here myself and observed the culture for a couple more decades, I'm not so sure. In recent Japanese films, the kyoiku mama ("education mother") of old has given way to clueless, distraught parents who are all but irrelevant to their kids' lives. Junior is no longer at his desk, sucking down Mom's home cooking, but hanging out in the streets of Shibuya -- and Mom never calls his cell-phone number.