Films › Directing
Shoplifters
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018
Hirokazu Kore-eda shot Shoplifters chronologically, an unusual choice for a family drama, so his actors could accumulate the intimacy of the household in the same order the audience experiences it, which is why the physical closeness in later scenes reads as earned rather than performed. Cinematographer Kondo Ryuto favors handheld work inside the cramped house, keeping characters overlapping in frame, elbows and shoulders touching, so the composition itself argues for family before the dialogue does. Kore-eda withholds crucial plot information about the family's actual relationships until well past the midpoint, and he directs performances so that no actor plays the withheld secret, meaning the naturalism never tips into concealment or dramatic irony. The kitchen and bath scenes were shot with minimal blocking rehearsal, letting improvisation inside a fixed, cluttered set generate the unforced physical business that makes the space feel lived in rather than dressed. Directors working on ensemble family stories should study how chronological shooting order and withheld exposition combine to produce trust no blocking notes could manufacture.
What to watch for
Watch how characters are almost always touching or overlapping in frame inside the house, and how that closeness shifts once secrets surface.
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