The Japanese Film "Shoplifters" Will Steal Your Heart - Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda

"Shoplifters" is a film that has you going in one direction and then swiftly jolts ripping open your heart like a bandage being yanked off a scar.  The Japanese film directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda (b Japan 1962) is crafty filmmaking with impact that washes over you until you're completely immersed in this family drama.  It's about love and the love that forms a meaningful family.  The haphazard household appears to consist of a husband Osamu (Lily Frank "Like Father Like Son') and wife Noboyu (Sakura Ando), their beautiful older daughter Aki (Mayu Matsuoka), a rapscallion son Shota (Kairi Jyo) and an eccentric grandmother.  Shota has been mentored by Osamu in the art of prestidigitation a.k.a. shoplifting.  Osamu works construction but his mainstay for money comes from lifting loot to sell.  Osamu is a contemporary Fagin who mentors with a warped morality by proferring encouragement & kindness.  Everyone contributes to the family fund by both legit and nefarious means.  Aki works in a semi-pornographic peep house.  Grandma adds her pension & unquestioned yens to help pay rent on their squalid, cramped quarters.  On the way back to their apartment after a propitious shoplifting venture, Osamu & Shota spot a young waif (Miyu Sasaki) outside in the cold.  They feel sympathy for her & lure her home with some hot food & little enticement.  Noboyu argues this is kidnapping & they should return her where they found her.  Nonetheless, they feed her and discover multiple scars & burns on her body.  The family takes to this 5 year old who steals your heart & the film.  The acting by the cast is cunningly convincing.  The two young leads are exceptional.  The cinematography is crisp & captivating.  The family decide to keep the young girl.  They cut her hair & rename her Lin.  They're determined to keep her in their brood.  The film is duplicitious; nothing is as it would seem.  The veracity of tenderness, love & concern the formulated family of 6 demonstrates is apparent & unmistakable.  There are precious scenes that score big time.  Shota is tutoring Lin to shoplift when the elderly proprietor stops Shota.  He offers him treats for both in exchange for not showing his sister how to steal. The loving embraces Aki gives Lin are affecting. And, a day at the beach with the entire clan is a refreshing break from the everyday drudgery. It  provides surges of love that wash over the group & molds them together.  When the house of cards comes crashing down it stems from an inner turmoil & profound love.  The startling revelations of the true relationships & histories of the characters become detected.  This truly exquisite & soulful film is filled with hidden treasures that unlock the human heart.