The Invisible Family

Shoplifters is a 2018 feature film directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. It is about a family with no blood ties living in a low-class neighbourhood in Tokyo who find a girl locked at a balcony in the cold day after day. Understanding that she is being mistreated by her parents, the Shibata family decide...

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Main Author: Francisco Dias
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Católica Portuguesa 2022-03-01
Series:Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.ucp.pt/index.php/jsta/article/view/10366
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author Francisco Dias
author_facet Francisco Dias
author_sort Francisco Dias
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description Shoplifters is a 2018 feature film directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. It is about a family with no blood ties living in a low-class neighbourhood in Tokyo who find a girl locked at a balcony in the cold day after day. Understanding that she is being mistreated by her parents, the Shibata family decide to take Yuri in. The audiovisual essay The Invisible Family analyses Shoplifters according to three key concepts of melodrama: house, family and society. Each one of them, introduced by a quotation, is composed of three diptychs with scenes from the film. The small and cluttered houses in Shoplifters constrict the characters and render their inner selves visible. As the Shibata fall apart throughout the film, their care and respect for each other grow deeper. Shoplifting and using others are unacceptable in society. However, these are carried out by the Shibata, because their income is not enough to provide for the family. It is, thus, urgent to improve work regulations, to provide more and better employment opportunities and to support families. All in all, the conflict emerges within the family, gathered in a house which suffocates them and pressured by a society which not only imposes rigid norms of respectability but also makes the weakest invisible.
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spelling doaj.art-2f153442d1ba4bd989109eef7fb034762022-12-21T23:53:23ZengUniversidade Católica PortuguesaJournal of Science and Technology of the Arts1646-97982183-00882022-03-0113310.34632/jsta.2021.10366The Invisible FamilyFrancisco Dias0Universidade Católica Portuguesa, School of Arts Shoplifters is a 2018 feature film directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. It is about a family with no blood ties living in a low-class neighbourhood in Tokyo who find a girl locked at a balcony in the cold day after day. Understanding that she is being mistreated by her parents, the Shibata family decide to take Yuri in. The audiovisual essay The Invisible Family analyses Shoplifters according to three key concepts of melodrama: house, family and society. Each one of them, introduced by a quotation, is composed of three diptychs with scenes from the film. The small and cluttered houses in Shoplifters constrict the characters and render their inner selves visible. As the Shibata fall apart throughout the film, their care and respect for each other grow deeper. Shoplifting and using others are unacceptable in society. However, these are carried out by the Shibata, because their income is not enough to provide for the family. It is, thus, urgent to improve work regulations, to provide more and better employment opportunities and to support families. All in all, the conflict emerges within the family, gathered in a house which suffocates them and pressured by a society which not only imposes rigid norms of respectability but also makes the weakest invisible. https://revistas.ucp.pt/index.php/jsta/article/view/10366ShopliftersHirokazu Kore-edaMelodramaHouseFamilySociety
spellingShingle Francisco Dias
The Invisible Family
Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts
Shoplifters
Hirokazu Kore-eda
Melodrama
House
Family
Society
title The Invisible Family
title_full The Invisible Family
title_fullStr The Invisible Family
title_full_unstemmed The Invisible Family
title_short The Invisible Family
title_sort invisible family
topic Shoplifters
Hirokazu Kore-eda
Melodrama
House
Family
Society
url https://revistas.ucp.pt/index.php/jsta/article/view/10366
work_keys_str_mv AT franciscodias theinvisiblefamily
AT franciscodias invisiblefamily