#PicksAndPiquesInternationalFilmMovieReviews #Shoplifters A deeper thought-provoking look at the Social Outcast
International Film Movie Review
Johnson Thomas
A deeper thought-provoking look at the Social Outcast
Film: Shoplifters/ Manbiki kazoku (2018)
Cast: Mayu Matsuoka, Sakura Ando, Lily Franky, Kirin Kiki, Sosuke Ikematsu, Chizuru Ikewaki, Kengo Kora, Akira Emoto
Director, writer, editor: Hirokazu Koreeda.
Camera (Color): Ryuto Kondo.
Music: Haruomi Hosono.
Rating: * * * *
Running Time: 121 min.
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Palme d’Or-winning “Shoplifters” takes a deeper look at the concept of family. Does ‘Family’ represent blood ties or is there more to the unforgettable bonding between people that helps them cope with the many stressors of life? Kore-eda’s narrative opens to a scene which defines the very tenet of this film. A man Osamu (Lily Franky) and a boy Shota (Jyo Kairi) are seen communicating to each other non-verbally, while moving slowly through the aisles in a store. We see them picking up stuff slyly and that immediately connects with the title of the film. When they leave the store after collecting their loot we hear them talking and we get an inkling of their desperation brought on them by the economics of their situation. This film is not a moral play about right or wrong. It’s a statement of fact, telling it like it is – about how the underprivileged struggle to meet their very basic needs. The man and boy are not averse to paying for their purchases. Soon after the shoplifting sequence we see them paying for some croquettes that the boy loves. But Kore-eda’s film is not just a statement about poverty in Japan it digs deeper and finds a fountain of deeper connections breaking away from the traditional concept of family - making it a love bond that brings together people from dysfunctional set-ups into a much more nurturing, giving, secure space that may be considered illegal by the powers that be but in human terms, it’s probably maybe the better way all around. It’s certainly a topic worth discussing at length.
On the way back home that night, the man and boy come across little young girl who seems to be hungry. They offer her a croquette and she ends up following them home. At home we meet three other women; the mother named Nobuyo (Ando Sakura), a daughter named Aki (Matsuoka Mayu) and a grandmother (Kiki Kilin). The young girl won’t leave on her own, they try to take her back but when hearing a violent scuffle from her house they decide to keep her with them calling her Juri( that’s what she calls herself). While Juri is too young to shoplift, she goes along with Osamu and Shoto on their daily jaunts -after Osamu finishes his day job as a construction worker. While Nobuyo works in a Laundromat, Aki does sex shop duty as “companion.” Grandma does her monthly rounds collecting sin money from the family that stole her husband, Nobuyu keeps the trinkets she finds left behind in the clothes she puts into the washer and Aki longs for a deeper connection with one of her clients.
While the Shibatas may not be below the poverty line they are all contributing to keep themselves above it. Their struggle is evident in their daily domestic and work routines. The implications of a heavy tax regime become all the more clearer when Garndma passes away and they bury her in the neighbourhood without informing the authorities. Other secrets also come tumbling out thereafter. Given the circumstances detailed by the set-up it’s not exactly a shocker but more like an illumination of the human condition. A bringing together of lost souls into a secure unit that could replace the traditional blood family set-up.
The film raises issues that question the very nature of traditional constructs. The dialogue between Noboyu and the grandmother questions whether giving birth to someone automatically make you a mother? And the situation that Juri finds herself in after she is sent back to her home confronts that truth with telling effect. Though Kore-eda has challenged the family construct in his earlier films, “Like Father, Like Son” and “Nobody Knows,” this one is far more layered and nuanced. When Kore-eda moves into his final reveal we realise the depth of emotional need that each one of the characters have - which was being fulfilled by being in a makeshift set-up that the Law considers illegal and unjustified. The remainder of the scenes in this film detail the histories of each character and shows us that even a makeshift family is capable of making jaw-dropping sacrifices that sets one person free while incarcerating the other. This is an inveigling humanist story that pits traditional concepts against new age constructs and is probably a solution to the rampant dysfunctions and degradation that has torn asunder traditional set-ups leading to institutionalisation. A heart-wrenching ensemble effort from the terrific cast and Kore-eda’s uncluttered, natural takes lend gritty realism to this story inspired by a local news item.
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