Shoplifters aka Manbiki Kazoku, written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda - 10 out of 10

Shoplifters aka Manbiki Kazoku, written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda

10 out of 10

Given that Manbiki Kazoku has won the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and this is the most important cinematic prize, in terms of value confirmation for a motion picture, we could be talking about the best film of the year.

It is also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, the Golden Globe, the BAFTA – all in the same category - and so many other prestigious prizes, at different festivals around the world.

The fabulous motion picture looks at life on the edge of Japanese society, where destitute people live – this could be the tale of any family, in rich or poor countries, although the setting in one of the most advanced economies on the planet makes the plot even more heartbreaking.

It must be said that for all the derived admiration that we have for Japan, there are quite a few aspects that are appalling – from the massacre of extremely intelligent and loveable mammals, dolphins – exposed in the wondrous The Cove – whales – which the country wants so much to kill that it has recently withdrawn from the international body that supervises such activities, to the outré justice system that has shocked people since autumn last year.

Carlos Ghosn may have embezzled money, dodged taxes, but his case has shown the globe that in Japan, suspects are treated harshly – to say the least – and the presumption appears to be that they are guilty, once the prosecutors or the police arrests them and not vice versa, considered innocent until proven guilty.

Lily Franky is wonderful in the role of Osamu Shibata – funny how the actor’s name suggests a woman, but he is a man – the Shoplifter in chief, who teaches first Shota Shibata aka the exceptional teenager actor Jyo Kairi to steal from shops and then Yuri Hojo aka the phenomenal, perhaps only four years old Miyu Sasaki.

He has an explanation when he would eventually have to talk with an official and he states that there is nothing else he knows and he could teach the young ones – this is a replica given when he is confronted with the notion that maybe he should have felt guilty about what he did with the children.

One of the major merits of this outstanding feature is the complexity of the characters and the story, for we do not have the usual figures that make the audiences cheer for them and weep when they are caught – well, maybe some would be moved to tears following some events in shoplifters.

However, Osamu Shibata and his companion, Nobuyo Shibata aka the formidable Sakura Ando, are not just petty criminals – as we would find quite late in the narrative – but in the complicated personas, they harbor a generosity, sense of duty, compassion, spirit of self-sacrifice that law abiding citizens lack for the most part.

Osamu Shibata has just stolen from a shop, with his accomplice, the young Shota, when they see a girl that seems to be only four, who is out in the cold and he feels sorry for the child and takes her to the simple, poor place where five of them already share a very small space.

The two personages that have not been mentioned yet are the grandmother, Hatsue Shibata aka Kirin Kiki and Aki Shibata aka Mayu Matsuoka, the latter works in an erotic chat outfit, where men come to private rooms to pay and watch young women masturbate and perform acts that they call for.

Grandmother visits a family that pays her money – she is always dissatisfied with the amount which she receives after formally and politely refusing – and the others see her pension as a crucial part of their finances, which are stretched to the limit, for they have very little to spend.

Nobuyo and Osamu think about returning Yuri, aware that keeping her could be kidnapping, but when they go to the flat where her parents are, preparing to leave her, they hear the violent fight, blows being exchanged and words that make clear that the father – perhaps the mother too – has not wanted the girl who was definitely abused when she lived with her monster parents.

Yuri has the physical and psychological scars that are the result of this “family life” and the poor, destitute couple decide to keep the girl, facing the possible dire consequences and knowing that this is another mouth to feed, but also stating that since they do not ask for a reward or any money, this could not possibly be construed as blackmail.

Since this is not a story about good, kind, generous heroes that happen to live in squalor, there is a dark side to the character of the protagonists and they teach the four year old how to participate in their criminal acts, where she is the one who unplugs the security system at the door, when Shota steals a couple of expensive fishing lines, but eventually he realizes that he does not want to do this anymore.

Therefore, he wants to be caught and he is and the family has to face one trauma and adversity after another – trying to run and abandon one member of the group, showing yet again how complicated a human being can be – one moment he gives all he has for the other and the next thing we know is he walks off without saying goodbye.

They bury one family member within the premises of their own small place – for spoiler alert reasons no names or details would be mentioned – and we discover more gruesome aspects, while at the same time maintain a compassion and even admiration for people whose life has been very hard, they have been pushed to the wall and still maintained decency and values, morals.

Yes, they are obviously far from perfect and seem to be destined to pay for mistakes and crimes – some of them anyway – but in their unfortunate position they found the heart to take a child in and care for her much better than her vicious parents ever did, raising the question – if she ever returns to them, would that not be a downfall, instead of a restoration, redemption?

Shoplifters is a glorious achievement, even if all the major prizes, expect for the Palme d’Or, will be won by Roma this year – another fundamental motion picture http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/12/roma-written-and-directed-by-alfonso.html