Wednesday November 20th 2019

Japan   2018     123 minutes
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Lily Franky, Kriin Kiki, Sosuke Ikematsu, Mayo Matsuoka

Director Hirokazu Kore-eda won the Cannes 2018 Palme d’Or with this complex and thoughtful film about the true meaning of ‘family’. The Shibatas are a disparate group, living in a poor neighbourhood of Tokyo. They make ends meet by regular shoplifting expeditions, and it is when returning from one of these that father Osamo and son Shota discover a seemingly abandoned little girl. They take her under their wing and soon train her in the art of thieving. As we follow the mixed fortunes of the rest of the group, we come to realise that this family is not all that it initially seems. Like much Japanese cinema it moves at a relaxed but insightful pace.