"If they love you, this is what they do."
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda
Shoplifters
万引き家族
An acclaimed, moving drama.
4.3(307k)via LetterboxdLily Franky + 4 more
In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence begins to unravel. As the family grows attached to her, buried secrets surface, forcing them to confront the true meaning of love, belonging, and what makes a family.
Where to watch
1Shoplifters is showing in 1 cinema in Los Angeles — next screening Sunday 23 August at 20:00 at BRAIN DEAD STUDIOS.
Sunday, 23 August
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Cast & crew
6What people say
Osamu and his wife Nobuyo can’t afford to have sex anymore. Middle-aged and marginally employed, the Shibata couple is crammed into a ramshackle apartment on the outskirts of Tokyo, along with a pre-teen son named Shota (Jyo Kairi), Nobuyo’s younger sister (Matsuoka Mayu), and the frail grandmother whose monthly pension keeps everything from falling apart. The musty hovel can hardly fit all of the life that’s stuffed inside of it; random boxes and old toys are scattered in every direction, as if everyone would rather live in the mess they’ve made than dare to remember all the things they’ve lost. Even if Osamu and Nobuyo had the time to screw around, there’d be nowhere for them to do it.But they love each other, and find other ways of expressing the bond that exists between them. “We’re connected by our hearts,” Osamu says with his impish grin, laughing it off, burying the thought somewhere in the ever-growing mountain of priceless junk that his family hoards in their apartment. He might be in denial, but he’s not wrong.The Shibatas are connected in any number of different ways: Love, money, loneliness, scars, money (money deserves to get mentioned twice). Also, petty thievery: Osamu and Shota have fun stealing things together, the duo sharing an adorable fist-bump before every robbery. And it’s good that the Shibata has so much in common, as all of those various binding agents will be put to the test over the course of Kore-eda Hirokazu’s miraculous “Shoplifters,” among the very best of the writer-director’s delicate, deceptive, and profoundly moving dramas about the forces that hold a family together (or don’t).READ THE FULL REVIEW ON INDIEWIRE
"I don't know anything else to teach them."If you have the chance to see this, please do. Its kindness feels even greater on a second viewing. You can say so much about how people live through such a simple story.
Common questions
What is Shoplifters about?+
The film follows a marginal, impoverished family in Tokyo who survive through petty crime and odd jobs while taking in a neglected young girl, only for their fragile bond to face scrutiny.
Who directed Shoplifters?+
It was directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, a renowned Japanese auteur who won the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival for this work.
Has Shoplifters won any awards?+
Yes, the film won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
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