This film is perhaps the most unusual heartwarming movie we’ve seen and it’s magical in its own way. Director/ Writer Hirokazu Kore-eda redefines what it means to belong to a group of people who are not related but become family, showing what they do daily to help each other survive.
The director had this story in his mind for 10 years. He wrote it with plenty of humor, intersecting love with empathy. But he directed it documentary style shooting on 35 mm film. There’s a grainy quality to much of what looks like scenes taken with handheld camera. The combination of the script told in this visual mode puts you in the midst of these characters. He creates a steady tempo that makes you wonder what is going to happen to these people next. And the way he lets the audience learn details about each one of them, helps you care about them. That’s the magic of this film, awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
Each one of them is a flawed outcast from society. These are not pillars of society but live in Tokyo on the edge of Japanese life. The director is showing how the chasm between rich and poor is getting wider. In Western society we might consider these people homeless, but they have a home provided by Grandma (famous Japanese actress, Kirin Kiki, who died this past September). Every line on her face show depth of emotion from joy to sadness. Grandma scams money from relatives to add to her dead husband’s pension to help keep the family going. Aki ( Mayu Matsuoka) is her granddaughter who makes money working in a peep show booth.
The male in the clan, Osamu (Lily Franky) shoplifts at the local supermarket and other shops with his son, Shota (Jyo Katrina). Shota is around 12 years old. He’s cute and smart. He and Osamu use pretty intricate choreography, shooting them giving hand signals to each other from different angles to pull off their petty crimes stealing food and other necessities. Kore-eda shows the near misses practically being caught. But Osamy and Shota have it down. It’s practically an art form. They know how to go just far to go and run like hell if it gets too chancy. It’s also evident how they trust each other and even seem to have fun successfully executing their exploits.
On their way home they see little Juri. She’s only five years old, shivering out in the cold, all alone on a balcony. Thinking she may be locked out of wherever she lives, they decide to take her to their home to give her food and warmth. She is a scrawny, but pretty little thing. Juri is reluctant to take anything from them. Over dinner, Osamu’s wife, Nobuyo Shibata, (Sakura Ando) notices along with the rest of the family, bruises and burn marks on Juri’s arms and they ultimately fold her into the family.
The scenes of them sharing meals together are the most heartwarming. Kore-eda shows them enjoying so many interesting steaming dishes and their slurping of noodles will make you want to head for a Ramen bar right after seeing this film. It’s fun watching them’ talk and laugh, interacting better than most families and thoroughly enjoying the spoils of the day. They don’t take what they are sharing or each other for granted. This is a group who chose their family, not one they had to like because they are related.
It seems as though they could go on like this forever, but Kore-eda Brings it back to reality when a search for the little girl shows up on TV. That brings this family unwanted attention. The director has them continue shoplifting but shows them always on guard, afraid of getting caught.
Even so, Osamu takes stealing to another level, looking for a bigger score, but it’s a line too far for Shota. The boy gets scared and gets caught. That combined with harboring Juri changes their lives. The heartbreaking way that affects each of them and their bond is what Kore-Eda explores so well.
These are not pillars of society. But the focus of this film shows how, together, they create a warm, supportive unit that watches over and cares for each other. The director shows that you are not defined by what you do, but who you are. Kore-eda makes you want to root for them all the way.
Magnolia Pictures 2 hours 1 minute R
