The harrowing story of four children abandoned by their mother in a small Tokyo apartment. In less sensitive hands, the film could easily have been a manipulative melodrama of children in danger, or else a too-cute appreciation of youthful resilience, but Mr. Hirokazu directs his dry-eyed young actors with an extraordinary mixture of tenderness and detachment, hovering between the childrens point of view and that of a stricken, sympathetic adult. The film moves slowly and lasts nearly two and a half hours, but somehow your attention never slackens, and at the end you feel both heartbroken and oddly exhilarated. (A. O. Scott)

TAZ http://www.taz.de/pt/2004/05/14/a0271.nf/text
ARTE http://www.arte-tv.com/de/film/Cannes__2004/Die_20Filme/266844,CmC=525404.html