Shoplifters | Hirokazu Kore-eda | NYFF 2019
Acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda returns with his much-anticipated Shoplifters, a tale about the most unusual family dynamic put on screen in some time.
Based in Tokyo, the family is not one of blood but of connection. The “patriarch” of the family is Osamu (Lily Franky), his wife Nobuyo (Sakura Ando), an older woman named Hatsue (Kirin Kiki), her daughter Aki (Mayu Matsuoka) and the young boy Shota (Kairi Jō).
They get by each day by shoplifting from various stores around town, a skill which Osamu has passed down to Shota. One night all of their lives change forever when they discovered a young girl named Yuri (Miyu Sasaki) who is locked out of her home who has marks on her arms that hint that her family has been abusing her. While they may be a family who survives off the crime of their own, they have a kind and gentle heart and take her in as her own, afraid of the abuse that may await Yuri if they returned her home.
As we spend more time within their household, the more we grow to love this family. Although, Kore-eda’s script cleverly does so as we slowly peak back and get a look at the family history of secrets and learn how they really came together and how it is that Shota became a part of the family. The heart and soul of Shoplifters is the relationship between Shota and Osamu, who nearly begs him to call him daddy, but the boy is hesitant to do so.
Kore-eda doesn’t frame these people as blameless for their actions, but he finds a way to still allow us to see them as humans who make mistakes but still are full of tons of love in their heart. This is played to perfection by each and every member of this wonderful cast from Kairi Jō as Shota, Lily Franky as his “dad,” Sakura Ando as his “mom,” Kirin Kiki as the grandma of the family and young Aki in an adorably cute role.
Not only is Shoplifters easily the best film that I’ve seen at the festival so far, it easily ranks high amongst anything that I’ve seen this year. This is an essential and vital film full of life, love, and thoughtfulness that should not be missed.
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