In Tokyo, a makeshift, impoverished family lives together in the home of one of its members, a pensioner. Three of the adults have low-paying jobs; one of them plus a boy of about ten partake in shoplifting to help meet family expenses. One night, the family takes in a homeless girl of about six, not yet knowing that she is from an abusive home.
Director/writer Hirokazu Kore-eda made a similar film in 2004: "Nobody Knows". Like "Shoplifters", "Nobody Knows" also delved courageously into the subject of children living poverty. While "Shoplifters" is one of 2018's most acclaimed films, I'm sadly an outlier on this one as I had mixed feelings about it though I did have a high opinion of "Nobody Knows".
There are many curiosities regarding the characters in their difficult circumstances: while the adults are good for taking in children from difficult homes, there is a strong question of morality in teaching them to steal. In normal economic circumstances, this is clearly wrong but is this still the case where economic survival is concerned? Even some shopkeepers seem to accept shoplifting as a way of life for some. More could have been explored here but this area, like others, seems to be at loose ends by the film's conclusion.
Kore-eda's directing style itself is ordinary even though the subject matter is not. The directing style could have been more impactful, perhaps like in the recent "Roma" where the ordinary was made fascinating. While the story and its characters are interesting enough, more is needed to justify the film's two-hour length - perhaps more characterization. "Shoplifters" also lacks a moral centre which is needed in a story that has so much moral ambiguity. Possibly, the moral centre is the young girl Yuri (a very affecting Yasu Hojo) if only for her total innocence in a very harsh world. - dbamateurcritic
Director/writer Hirokazu Kore-eda made a similar film in 2004: "Nobody Knows". Like "Shoplifters", "Nobody Knows" also delved courageously into the subject of children living poverty. While "Shoplifters" is one of 2018's most acclaimed films, I'm sadly an outlier on this one as I had mixed feelings about it though I did have a high opinion of "Nobody Knows".
There are many curiosities regarding the characters in their difficult circumstances: while the adults are good for taking in children from difficult homes, there is a strong question of morality in teaching them to steal. In normal economic circumstances, this is clearly wrong but is this still the case where economic survival is concerned? Even some shopkeepers seem to accept shoplifting as a way of life for some. More could have been explored here but this area, like others, seems to be at loose ends by the film's conclusion.
Kore-eda's directing style itself is ordinary even though the subject matter is not. The directing style could have been more impactful, perhaps like in the recent "Roma" where the ordinary was made fascinating. While the story and its characters are interesting enough, more is needed to justify the film's two-hour length - perhaps more characterization. "Shoplifters" also lacks a moral centre which is needed in a story that has so much moral ambiguity. Possibly, the moral centre is the young girl Yuri (a very affecting Yasu Hojo) if only for her total innocence in a very harsh world. - dbamateurcritic