Film director Hirokazu Koreeda has depicted various types of families in his works. In his new film, set for release on June 8, the three-generation family of the main character appears to be quite normal. But in fact, these people are anything but. The movie's title, "Manbiki Kazoku" (Shoplifters), probably provides a hint about why.
This is a report from a shooting location for the film.
The family quietly live in an old one-story house standing among a canyon of high-rises in an old traditional area of Tokyo. In the scene shot on this day, the family members were eating together. They looked happy, despite being poor.
But this family has various secrets. For example, they make up for their shortage in living expenses by shoplifting. The family connects by repeatedly committing crimes.
The film is reminiscent of Koreeda's 2004 film "Nobody knows," about people living in an obscure part of a city who are ignored by others. But times have changed since then. "It's likely that the ways of being a family in society have significantly changed," Koreeda said. "It seems to me that various kinds of bonds are being undone." Koreeda apparently created his latest story because he wanted to confirm whether this was true or not.
The family members are played by Lily Franky, Sakura Ando, Mayu Matsuoka and Kirin Kiki. Kairi Jo and Miyu Sasaki, selected through an audition, play children in the family.
In casting actors for the film, Koreeda thought people who are good at spewing venom would be best. "This is because everyone in the film keeps telling trivial lies," Koreeda said.
The scenes at home were shot in a detached house that production staff found in Tokyo. After that, a set recreating the house was built in a studio to shoot night scenes during the daytime, out of consideration for the child actors. When moving to the set, "It recreated the house so faithfully that my brain got confused," said Ando, who is appearing in a Koreeda film for the first time.
But why did the director choose that house?
When seeing it among all the high-rises, Koreeda thought it "looked like it was left alone at the bottom of the sea. I wanted to shoot a movie about people who look up at the light above the surface of the water."
The story, location and characters really converge to deepen the movie -- such coherence is a signature of Koreeda's films.
Kiki, who has appeared in many of his movies, said, "During filming, I felt as if each of the characters gradually appeared and lived through the actors' bodies. This is what makes Koreeda different from other film directors."
Watching the movie being filmed through a monitor, I was surprised to see these familiar actors become completely different people. The film has a lived-in feel -- the actors and cluttered room make "Manbiki Kazoku" more realistic than any other recent Japanese movie.
Matsuoka, who is also appearing in a Koreeda film for the first time, said, "The house in the movie is dusty and dirty, but I can relax there. It's totally different from my parents' house. When I'm [at the house in the film], I feel like it's easy to breathe, and I don't want to leave."
Lily echoed this, saying, "I feel somewhat relaxed," adding that, "For me, the line between a private life and filming becomes obscure. I'm always spellbound when shooting for Koreeda."
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