Shoplifters

Hirokazu Kore-eda wrote, directed and edited this one. He says the question of what makes a family had been with him 10 years. Researching it he toured an orphanage where a girl pulled Leo Lionni’s Swimmy from her backpack and read it through; he turned that into a scene and made the film for her. His method with children is separate. They get no script and he whispers their lines on the day: in his words he gives them nothing in advance, so they live the story as it unfolds. Kairi Jo and Miyu Sasaki were in their first film. The awards are not one line. It took the Palme d’Or at Cate Blanchett’s Cannes jury, the first for Japan since 1997. At the 42nd Japan Academy Film Prize it turned 12 nominations into 8 wins, more than any other film that night, and Kirin Kiki’s supporting actress prize was posthumous. Its Oscar and Golden Globe foreign film nominations both lost to Roma. Kore-eda turned down a government invitation to celebrate the Palme, saying art is easily put to political use. A good fit if you want children reacting in the moment instead of delivering a rehearsed performance. Not for you if you want the story to stay inside that house; the last stretch moves to interview rooms and institutions.