THE CRIMES THAT BIND偷來的親情
A makeshift family survives on illegal activity in Shoplifters, this year’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner. By KEVIN MA
幾個靠犯罪為生的人湊合而成的《小偷家族》，得年贏 今 康城影展金棕櫚獎。撰文：馬樂民
With films such as Like Father Like Son, After Life and Still Walking, Hirokazu Kore-eda is widely regarded by critics as one of the best directors in the world, thanks to his thoughtful and quietly moving observations of life in contemporary Japan.
The winner of this year’s Palme d’Or, the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, Shoplifters is the most critically and commercially successful film of Kore-eda’s distinguished career. It’s a culmination of themes explored in his previous family dramas: repressed resentment, the effect of parents’ sins on their children and child abuse. Most importantly, it seeks answers to a question that Kore-eda has never stopped asking: are families created by love or by blood?
The family in Shoplifters is made up of Osamu (Lily Franky); his wife, Nobuyo (Sakura Ando); young Shota (Kyo Kairi); college-aged Aki (Mayu Matsuoka); and an elderly lady who everyone just calls Grandma (the great Kirin Kiki, in one of her final roles). None of them is related by blood, but they share the same roof as they survive on loot from Osamu and Shota’s shoplifting sprees, low-paying blue-collar jobs and the fraudulent pension that Grandma collects.
One cold night, Osamu comes across a little girl who has been left outside by her abusive parents. Worried for her wellbeing, Osamu takes her home, renames her Rin and adopts her into the family. However, Rin’s presence also threatens the family’s off-the-grid existence, as the authorities begin to realise they have a kidnapping on their hands.
Shoplifters is Kore-eda’s sharpest critique of Japanese society since Nobody Knows, his 2004 drama based on a true story about four siblings abandoned by their mother. The director points his finger at the failures of the welfare system and social services (a high-profile child abuse case from earlier this year is eerily similar to events in the film), as well as the gradual decline of conditions for the working class.
But this isn’t exactly Oliver Twist. Kore-eda observes a year in the life of this makeshift family with warmth and tenderness, even as the deceptions that tie them together eventually come to the surface. Influenced by Japanese cinema great Mikio Naruse, Kore-eda is a master at finding quietly intense emotions in seemingly small, everyday moments.
Consider the scene of Nobuyo and Rin comparing scars in the bath. Even though it exposes the abuse both characters have suffered, it’s also oddly heartwarming as a mother-daughter bond is forged in common tragedy. Even in darkness, Koreeda always finds a glimmer of hope.
日本導演是枝裕和的作品括《誰調換了我的父親》、《下一站，天國》及《橫山家之味》等，向來以手法細膩、淡平 而動人見稱，獲影評人公認為全球數一數二的優秀導演。
他的《小偷家族獲》榮 今年康城影展金棕櫚獎，可說是他從影以來最叫好又叫座的作品。本片講述壓積 心底的怨憤、父母的罪行孩對 子的影響，以及虐，兒 都是他以往的倫理片中分別探討過的主題，而本片則集有所 於一身。而最重要，的是是枝裕和在本片再次提出一個他一直反覆詰問的問題：家庭是由親情還是血緣組成的？
《小偷家族》裡的「家庭」成括員 柴田治（ Lily Franky 飾）、他的太太信代（安藤櫻飾）、少年祥太（城檜吏飾）、與大學生年齡相若的亞紀（松岡茉優飾） ，以及一個人人都稱她為婆婆的老婦（由殿堂演級 員樹希木 林飾演，本片是她的遺作之一）。這些人全部都沒有血緣係關 ，但是居於同一屋簷下；維持生活的方法，是倚靠柴田治及祥太到店鋪偷竊、做低些 薪的體力勞動工作，以及婆婆騙取政府的養老金。
一個天寒地凍的晚，上 柴田治在街上遇到被狠心父母關在家門外的小女孩。他 擔心小女孩受涼，於是將她帶回家，並且為她名改 Rin，收養她成為家庭一分子。不過， Rin 的出現亦令這個邊緣家庭面臨威脅因， 為後來方警 認為這是一宗綁架案。
是枝裕和於 2004年拍攝的《誰知赤子心》，根據真人真事改，述編 講 四名兒女遭受生母遺故而偷棄的 事； 《小 家族》是自這部電影之後，對日本社會提出最尖銳控訴的作品。導演在片中指出福利制度及社會服務的失敗（今年較早發時 生了一宗轟動的虐，兒案 案情與本片情節出奇地相，似）以及藍領工人日益惡劣的工作條。件
不過本片並非另一個《苦海孤雛》的故是事。 枝裕和以鏡頭觀察這個臨時家庭在一年裡的生活，相互 欺瞞令他們得以共處一室但，言謊 終將被揭破之際，導演仍一直對這家人保持柔溫 敦少的態度。是枝裕和深受日本電影大師成瀨巳喜男的影響，因此亦喜歡看微足於 似 不 道的日常活生 細節內，深發掘 藏其中的強情烈 感，功力可說已達爐火純青的階段。
片中有一場戲述講 信代與 Rin 一起在浴室內，相互 比較身上的傷，疤 道出兩人長期飽受虐待慘的 況之餘，同時也讓觀眾感受到，兩人因為遭遇同樣的不幸，反而生出有如母女一般的感，情 令人於傷感中透出一絲溫暖。即使在黑，暗中 是枝裕和還是會找到點點希望。之光