Tuesday, March 19, 6:30 pm, UNC Charlotte Main Campus, Student Union Theater
Hirokazu Kore’eda, 2017/121 min
Japanese with English subtitles
Spnsors: The Popp-Martin Student Union Theater
Additional sponsors: Nihon Club
Introduction by Phil Kaffen, Assistant Professor of Japanese, UNC Charlotte.
A discussion will follow the screening.
Shoplifters, a richly observed drama by the celebrated filmmaker Hirokazu Kore’eda, tells the story of a “family” that resorts to shoplifting in order to cope with a life of poverty. The director’s tough but compassionate humanism shines through every frame, with exquisite performances by all the actors, beautiful cinematography, and a moving, subdued score by the highly regarded electronic composer, Haruomi Hosono. Kore’eda’s compelling film asks what brings and holds people together, as well as what tears them apart in a world of radical inequality. Winner of the top prize (Palme D’or) at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, Shoplifters was also nominated for the academy award for best foreign language film, and is on top-ten lists for best film of 2018 in The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Variety, and numerous other publications. Not to be missed!
“The final half-hour of “Shoplifters” is some of the most emotional, powerful filmmaking of the year, and it’s thanks to how delicately Kore-eda has drawn these characters over the 90 preceding minutes. They feel as three-dimensional as any this year, thanks to Kore-eda’s humanist storytelling but also his expert direction of a truly amazing cast.”
—Brian Tallerico, Rogerebert.com
“This family, and their lives, could easily be framed in the dreariest way possible, and the writer and director Hirokazu Kore-eda has been up front about wanting to use his film to address the widening class divides in Japan, which have shredded the country’s social safety net. But his storytelling touch is deft, rendering Shoplifters a warm, heartfelt, and engrossing experience that’s entirely deserving of the Palme d’Or it won at Cannes this year. A must see.”
—David Sims, The Atlantic