
Shoplifters
Synopsis
A Japanese couple stuck with part-time jobs and hence inadequate incomes avail themselves of the fruits of shoplifting to make ends meet. They are not alone in this behaviour. The younger and the older of the household are in on the act. The unusual routine is about to change from care-free and matter-of-fact to something more dramatic, however, as the couple open their doors to a beleaguered young girl. The reasons for the family's habit and their motivations come under the microscope.
Production Budget Analysis
The production budget for Shoplifters (2018) has not been publicly disclosed.
CAST: Lily Franky, Sakura Ando, Mayu Matsuoka, Kairi Jo, Miyu Sasaki, Kirin Kiki DIRECTOR: Hirokazu Kore-eda CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ryuto Kondo MUSIC: Haruomi Hosono PRODUCTION: Fuji Television Network, AOI Pro., BUN-BUKU, GAGA Corporation
Box Office Performance
Theatrical box office data is not publicly available for Shoplifters (2018). This may indicate a limited release, direct-to-streaming, or a release predating modern box office tracking.
Profitability Assessment
Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.
INDUSTRY IMPACT
PRODUCTION NOTES
▸ Production
Director Hirokazu Kore-eda said that he developed the story for Shoplifters when considering his earlier film Like Father, Like Son, with the question "What makes a family?" Kore-eda described it as his "socially conscious" film. With this story, Kore-eda said he did not want the perspective to be from only a few individual characters, but to capture "the family within the society", a "wide point of view" in the vein of his 2004 film Nobody Knows. including media reports of how people lived in poverty and of shoplifting. To research the project, Kore-eda toured an orphanage and wrote a scene inspired by a girl there who read from Swimmy by Leo Lionni. Kore-eda said,
Lily Franky and Sakura Ando joined the cast before principal photography began in mid-December 2017. Child actors Sasaki Miyu and Kairi Jo were cast for their first film. Sosuke Ikematsu, Chizuru Ikewaki and Yūki Yamada joined the cast in February. It was also one of the last films Kirin Kiki appeared in before her death in 2018.
Production began in December 2017, with Fuji Television Network, Gaga, and AOI Pro producing.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Summary: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 49 wins & 98 nominations total
Awards Won: ★ Palme d'Or (2018 Cannes Film Festival) ★ César Award for Best Foreign Film (44th César Awards)
Nominations: ○ International Submission to the Academy Awards ○ Palme d'Or
Additional Recognition: The film competed at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or on 19 May. It was the first Japanese Palme d'Or-winner since The Eel in 1997. Jury president Cate Blanchett explained the decision: "We were completely bowled over by Shoplifters. How intermeshed the performances were with the directorial vision". In July 2018, Shoplifters also won Best International Film at the Munich Film Festival, with the jury citing it by stating it "opens up new possibilities and ultimately offers [...] hope".
In August, Shoplifters was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. It made the December shortlist in 2018, before being nominated for the Academy Award in January 2019.
! scope="col"| Award ! scope="col"| Date of ceremony ! scope="col"| Category ! scope="col"| Recipient(s) ! scope="col"| Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable"|
! scope="row"| Academy Awards
!scope="row" | Alliance of Women Film Journalists
!scope="row" rowspan=6| Asian Film Awards
!scope="row" rowspan=3| Asia Pacific Screen Awards
!scope="row" | Austin Film Critics Association
! scope="row" |BAFTA Awards
! scope="row" |Bodil Awards
! scope="row" rowspan="2" |Boston Society of Film Critics
! scope="row" |British Independent Film Awards
! scope="row"| Cannes Film Festival
! scope="row"| Chicago Film Critics Association
! scope="row"| Critics' Choice Movie Awards
! scope="row"| Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Associat...
CRITICAL RECEPTION
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Understated yet ultimately deeply affecting, Shoplifters adds another powerful chapter to director Hirokazu Kore-eda's richly humanistic filmography." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 93 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Shoplifters was also listed on numerous critics' top ten lists for 2018.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave Shoplifters 4/5 stars, declaring it a "rich, satisfying film", but subsequently upgraded this to a 5/5 star review upon second viewing. The Guardian later ranked the film 15th in its Best Films of the 21st Century list. The Hollywood Reporter critic Deborah Young called it "bittersweet" as it "contrasts the frigid emotions of socially correct behavior with the warmth and happiness of a dishonest lower-class family". Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph awarded it five stars, hailing it as an "outstanding domestic drama, crafted by Kore-eda with crystalline insight and an unsparing emotional acuity".
For IndieWire, David Ehrlich gave it a grade of "A−" and wrote the film "stings" with "the loneliness of not belonging to anyone, and the messiness of sticking together". TheWraps Ben Croll declared it Kore-eda's "richest film to date". In Time Out, Geoff Andrew gave it four stars and saluted Kore-eda as "a modern-day Ozu". Varietys Maggie Lee also compared it to Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens; Lily Franky's character Osamu was likewise compared to Dickens's character Fagin.
In Japan, The Japan Times gave Shoplifters five stars, writing "The cheers are entirely deserved" and credited it for an "outwardly naturalistic" style.









































































































































































































































































































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