Shoplifters is a Japanese family-drama film that I recently saw at MIFF (Melbourne International Film Festival). Directed, Edited, Produced and Written by Hirokazu Kor-eda ( Films: Like Father Like Son, Our Little Sister and Still Walking). All of his films have a family orientated atmosphere to them. Shoplifters is without exception this, but with echoed sentiments of upbringing and poverty. Shoplifters is beautifully executed melodrama set in modern Japan.

Generally, especially when I went into watching this film, we generalize Japan as being this utopia of sprawling metropolises and quiet rustic towns. We come to understand that Japan is a well built up society and that people generally have a high quality of life. Shoplifters turns this on its head. The display of the state in which this family of lost and abandoned people is heartwarming yet solemnly depressing in the same vein. The aspect of making ends meet through determination and trust on complete strangers completely transcended the films emotional core purpose in my belief.

Technically-speaking, it was stunning. The cinematography , mise-en-scene and performances were spectacular. One ideology I would like to point out is the notion that as a western audience, we do not come to watch for the star power, but rather for the story. With most Japanese movies, the actor or actresses seem to lack this star power, but instead of this, there is more emphasis more on the pathos and emotional content of the story through their portrayal of their character. This allows for the movie to be enjoyed for the story and art form rather than for its alleged star power. In saying this however, I would like to point out a performance that stood out to me; that of Sakura Ando who plays Nobuya Shibata. To me, her performance as the stoic white-collar worker of the family struck a moving chord. She was the mother-like image of the film.  Sakura Ando played this role to a degree that seems somewhat lax at first. But as the film progresses her character really begins to shine as her performance entrances and captivates the film, to a near Frances McDormand-like level. From her debut in Sion Sono’s Love Exposure to Shoplifters her career has begun to blossom in spectacular fashion, being relatively young at 32 years of age as well.

With this movie in particular, it strives for a emotional connection with the viewer. Something, that well it did with its amazing usage of seeming-less long takes. Kor-eda has a reputation of replicating the similar zen-like transcending cinema of Yasujiro Osu, even having his films being hailed as the modern day iterations of Osu’s films. With that being said, the slum-like, rustic imagery of contemporary Japan left a melancholic, but was contrasted with the contempt of emotions that were expressed in the film

Shoplifters is a film close to my heart. A film I will potentially re-watch frequently once out on Blu-ray. It’s messages and morals were so applicable to life in general. Shoplifters was a strong, enigmatic film that made many tears flow. The realistic outtake on how some people live created the most honest film I have ever seen.

 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zJ3_JZnH_Q