After debuting at the Toronto Film Festival and winning the prestigious Palme d’Or award at this year’s Cannes film festival, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s SHOPLIFTERS hits the screen with an incredible sense of anticipation. With the director’s track record, having six previous appearances at Cannes, along with a modern sensibility to generate media hype, it’s fair to say that this film is widely met with high expectations. However, this beautifully painted, intimate portrait of one family and their struggle against all odds, meets every single one of them.
In the opening scenes we meet Osmau (Lily Franky) and his son Shota (Jyo Kairi) in the midst of a shoplifting session at the grocery store. During a carefully thought out and well-practised routine, the two manage to get away from the store with bags full of loot. It is then on their way home that the two encounter Yuri, a little girl cast out in the freezing cold. Initially reluctant to provide her with shelter, Osamu and his wife change their minds after learning of the hardships she faces at home with abusive and unloving parents.
The family continues, despite their disadvantaged position, to pull their resources whilst committing a series of petty crimes, in order to survive. However, what the family lack in monetary richness, they make up for in love and understanding, living life simply but fully. As a result, the film innovatively utilises previously explored themes of ‘poverty porn’, to defiantly demonstrate ways in which people can seek happiness even in the worst of economic conditions. That is until an unforeseen incident reveals deeply rooted hidden secrets, testing the very bonds that unite them so closely.
SHOPLIFTERS marks a return to the socially-conscious tone of Kore-eda’s NOBODY KNOWS, simultaneously exploring the boundaries of motherhood and examining traditional family constitution. At once delightful and subtly heart-breaking, this exquisitely performed and superbly shot film guarantees to melt the hearts of both mainstream and art-house audiences.
SHOPLIFTERS has its official UK release on Tuesday 20th November 2018.