Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
If home really is where the heart is, then Hirokazu Kore-eda makes home movies.
(More on that below.)
As an aging society, there are increasing numbers of people who arent working because theyre retired.
All of this is putting a strain on the social-welfare system.
In no way is it intended to reveal whats happening.
Thats the socioeconomic reality, but the movies not about that.
This is true, that they are, to some degree, invisible to the welfare system.
Its sort of like the big element that binds them is something that you cant say is proper.
Youve shown a clear interest in the concept of family, but the public knows very little about yours.
But the current makeup of my family: Im married, and I love my wife and daughter.
As I grew up, I had both my parents and two older sisters.
This is my basic background, where Ive come from.
In one of the scenes in this movie, the little boy is sleeping inside a cupboard area.
Its a little ajar, and hes looking out onto the other family members.
I would say that is very much like me.
I could lie down and look out through the ajar door and observe everyone else.
Ive read that you visited an actual orphanage while researching this subject.
Just wanted to clarify that first.
I happened to be there in time to witness this.
But she completely ignored them and kept reading this book right to the end.
And at the very end, I applauded because she had done so wonderfully.
That was the feeling I took with me when I madeShoplifters.
The young boy in the filmreadsSwimmy,to show to his parents that hes reading.
That sense of pride and joy that the little girl had was something I held with me.
Do you find it challenging to depict scenes of poverty without inadvertently exploiting these characters struggles?
Whats the technique to avoiding that stance?I dont think its a technique.
I dont think thats something you could make up, or trick people into believing through your filmmaking.
It comes from the fundamental worldview, the sense of humanity.
It comes from the depth of the works creator.
If you have that empathy, you wont go down the road of voyeurism.
You cant just sympathize; you have to make visible what is invisible.
That skirts the trap of poverty porn.
Its the systems fault!
Thats not what Im trying to portray.
Does that particular food have a sentimental significance to you?Thatskaofu, which is made of wheat gluten.
On a simple level, when I was young, I lovedkaofu.So theres a nostalgia there.
I think it has to do with the older women.
Congratulations on winning the Palme dOr.
Id heard about this Verite,with Juliette Binoche, yes?
