Film: "Shoplifters"
Legendary director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s charming Palme d’Or triumph about a ragtag family of petty thieves.
No director has so perfectly captured the painstaking subtleties of complex familial relationships as acclaimed filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda (After the Storm).
After a routine outing with his son Shota to pilfer goods from a store, Osamu Shibata (Lily Franky, Like Father, Like Son) discovers the abused 5-year-old Yuri left shivering outside her home. Osamu and Shota open their arms to the child and bring her home with them, despite worries over having another mouth to feed, as they rely on low-paying jobs and their grandmother’s paltry pension. Jammed into a cramped apartment, the family survives on their love for one another—while carrying out petty scams.
Kore-eda has an unparalleled ability to construct understated dialogue that explodes with emotion, and even deception, as he slowly reveals shocking new layers to the Shibata clan. But it is what’s not spoken of that becomes the crux of the mystery behind the auteur’s latest masterpiece, which will leave audiences floored by the very end. With this Palme d’Or triumph, Kore-eda has crafted possibly the greatest achievement of his career, investigating the hopes and despairs of a provisional family unit that must rely on each other to live.
D: Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan, subtitled, 2018, 2h
