SYNOPSIS
After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu’s wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them.After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu’s wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them.
CAST & CREW
Hirokazu Koreeda
Director
Producer(s)
Kaoru Matsuzaki, Akihiko Yose, Hijiri Taguchi
Script
Hirokazu Koreeda
Director of Photography
Ryûto Kondô
Production designer
Keiko Mitsumatsu
Music by
Haruomi Hosono
Sound
Kazuhiko Tomita
Edit
Hirokazu Koreeda
Cast
Lily Franky, Mayu Matsuoka, Kirin Kiki, Sakura Andô, Jyo Kairi.
Production company(ies)
AOI Promotion Fuji Television Network Gaga
Hirokazu Koreeda
Originally intended to be a novelist, but after graduating from Waseda University in 1987 went on to become an assistant director at T.V. Man Union. Snuck off set to film Lessons from a Calf (1991). His first feature, Maborosi (1995), based on a Teru Miyamoto novel and drawn from his own experiences while filming August without Him (1994), won Jury Prizes at Venice and Chicago. The main themes of his oeuvre include memory, loss, death and the intersection of documentary and fictive narratives.
Filmography
Lessons from a Calf (1991, doc.), However... (1991, doc.), August Without Him (1994, doc.), Maborosi (1995), After Life (1998), Distance (2001), Nobody Knows (2004), Hana (2006), Still Walking (2008), Air Doll (2009), I Wish (2011), Like Father, Like Son (2013), Our Little Sister (2015), After the Storm (2016), The Third Murder (2017), Shoplifters (2018).
