Manbiki kazoku / Shoplifters
Hirokazu Kore-eda – Japan
IN A NUTSHELL
This moving drama, is centred around Osamu (Lily Franky) and his eccentric family. Osamu is a poorly paid day laborer, and to make ends meet, he and his son Shota (Kairi Jyo) like to shoplift together. On the way back home from a shoplifting session, Osamu finds little Yuri (Miyu Sasaki) freezing. He takes her home with them. His wife Nobuyo (Sakura Ando) gets angry at him for bringing the girl home, but she warms to the child and takes care of Yuri. But with another mouth to fee, just how will the family cope? (by Bianca Garner)
CRITICS RESPONSE
“A deceptively simple but utterly profound film, it starts and ends on two completely different notes, making it a film that constantly surprises you with its unpredictable yet compelling narrative.” – – – – – Mina Takla, AwardsWatch
“The title tells us point blank that this is a crime movie, and it is, but not in the way we initially imagine it to be. Koreeda uses this case study to deliver a broader point about the sad fact that we don’t have the ability to chose our own family. – – – – – David Jenkins, Little White Lies
“Kore-eda touches on many of his recurring tropes here: nurture vs nature, hapless grownups, streetwise kids fending for themselves, storms, deaths, supermarkets (this is all starting to sound like a Clash song). and so on — and yet the production itself seems somewhat lower than his usual standard. – – – – – Rory O’Connor, The Film Stage
PRIZE POTENTIAL
Hirokazu Kore-eda is a household name in the film world, and most definitely at Cannes. Throw a stone and you’ll hit a film worthy of the praise – Our Little Sister, After the Storm, Nobody Knows. The latter of course was a history-making prize winner, reflecting the kind of moving story of children present in this year’s festival.
Comparing to his previous films might afford us to nit-pick a little, but the reception for this is generally very strong. Is the director due now at Cannes? Would be a very popular Best Director. A few are even predicting it for one of the big three prizes for the film. That wouldn’t be the surprise it would likely be declared as.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQlXIuW_UZ4&w=560&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmluUo8a1xs&w=560&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa18LUHHcro&w=560&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkReLvYwVYE&w=560&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btF-zJrMMws&w=560&h=315]