Daremo Shiranai (Nobody Knows)

Daremo Shiranai (Nobody Knows, 2004) is an impeccable film by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda. It is his most accomplished and yet most conventional work to date. It takes its time to show how four children, abandoned by their mother, remain to live in their comfortable surroundings. As time passes, the social circumstances that hinder their ability to survive become distressing, leading to a fantastic atypical Koreeda ceremonial sequence. Its dilatory approach in getting accustomed to what the children go through results in a social, coming-of-age and slice-of-life film all at once. There are also a remarkable number of interesting details (the numerous shots of all the children's feet are very telling), and Kore-eda's film is a masterclass in directing children.

Kore-eda has collaborated with a variety of composers to create original scores. These range from fully developed musical works to short, simplified scores. The director has collaborated with renowned composers such as Yōko Kanno, Yasuhiro Kasamatsu and Ryuichi Sakamoto, as well as self-taught composers including Quruli, World's End Girlfriend and Fox Capture Plan.

Gontiti, also referred to as ゴンチチ, Gon'chichi, gontiti, or GONTITI, is a Japanese acoustic guitar duo specialising in jazz. The duo comprises of Gonzalez Mikami and TiTi Matsumura, who composed the music for two Koreeda's films: Daremo Shiranai and Aruitemo Aruitemo (Still Walking, 2008).

The short score for Daremo Shirana is fairly basic, consisting of a theme written and performed by the duo on guitars and toy piano. This is further enhanced by the Hijiri Kuwano Strings. The most commonly used variation is for guitars only. In tone and melody, it conveys a sense of rustic simplicity, reflecting the children's lives without a mother and their confinement to their own world. As with many self-taught composers, the score is written in their own musical style. However, given the complexity of the music and its recording, some use a variety of people to assist, others such as the recent work of Fox Capture Plan and Gontiti, is proof of how an intimate string formation and string arranger can add deeper emotion.

Although it works well in the context of the film, its impact isn't crucial to Kore-eda's overall vision. Given that the film serves as an excellent social commentary on the lives of these children, the question arises: who could remain unaffected emotionally? The music by Gontiti, including the version with strings, is strikingly effective yet unobtrusive. However, the inclusion of the non-original song 'Hōseki' by Takako Tate at the end of the film feels overly sentimental. This requires an appreciation of how some songs and their sensibilities are not always inappropriate, and their use in this film is a prime example of this.


Tracklist
1 誰も知らない -Extra Version- 2:50
2 ひみつ 2:02
3 えんそく 2:35
4 やくそく 1:57
5 誰も知らない -Toy Piano Version- 2:49



(23-02-2026)