[VIFF 2018] REVIEW: 'Shoplifters' will steal your heart
Shoplifters, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda.
There are “family films,” which is usually an umbrella term for something adults can enjoy with their kids, and the characters don’t often stray far from your typical nuclear family. Then there are films about family, which force you to consider the bonds that connect people. Acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters does that, weaving a touching tale of a family struggling to survive.
Osamu Shibata (Lily Franky) and his partner Nobuyo (Sakura Ando), both work low-paying, blue-collar jobs. They live in a cramped little shack in Tokyo and on most days find it difficult to make ends meet. They are joined by their son Shota (Kairi Jo), Nobuyo’s sister, Aki (Mayu Matsuoka), and grandma Hatsue (Kirin Kiki). Shota, who is led to believe that only kids who have nothing to learn go to school, spends a lot of time strolling around the city and shoplifting ramen from nearby convenience stores with Osamu. On the way home one night, they meet a homeless girl named Yuri (Miyu Sasaki), who they take in and eventually becomes part of the family.
The word “family” is used loosely here, and without giving away any key plot points, many of the common terms of familial endearment – father, wife, aunt, son, sister and grandma – are merely titles, and it’s clear that love, friendship and companionship are more apt ways to describe the Shibata clan. It’s as much a treatise on Japanese culture and its increasing rise of “share houses” as it is a work of art.
The first half of the film raises key questions about how all of these relationships work, and credit to Kore-eda for letting them go unanswered. He’s forcing you to understand their bond with one another first, so once the second half hits, the answers come tumbling down like bricks, and each twist turns your stomach. It’s a little upsetting, to say the least, but it certainly makes you to re-consider what sort of things make up a loving family. The performances are quite fantastic throughout; no line is wasted and no facial expression is undiscovered.
My only gripe is that the first half can be a grinding exercise if the nuance isn’t captured or noticed, so the staccato beats of the second half can feel rushed and hurried. I would prefer it if Kore-eda used a Manchester by the Sea-type approach where the timeline jumps back and forth to create a little more drama and mystery and allow for a more vested experience between the beginning and end; there are certainly times where Shoplifters doesn’t seem to be heading in any sort of direction.
Shoplifters was a darling at its debut at Cannes, winning the Palme d’Or, and it’s a clear front-runner for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. But very few films that have won the Palme d’Or have also won the big prizes on North American soil. Despite featuring the multi-talented Franky and Japanese screen legend Kiki, its limited release means the film will be largely hidden from the public eye, much like Tokyo’s aging population. It’s a hidden gem that can’t be replicated by any other culture or director.
Shoplifters gets three and a half stars out of four.
