'Imagine the things you can't see:' Hirokazu Kore-eda on 'Sheep in the Box'

For most of his career, Hirokazu Kore-eda has spoken in glances and silences.

His hallmark has been the naturalistic study of frayed, unlikely families — whether they be the left-behind kids of "Nobody Knows," the bereaved parents of "Still Walking," or the petty thieves living as kin in the Palme d'Or-winning "Shoplifters" — that silently hold together as much as they fall apart.

The Japanese auteur's latest is a more speculative, high-concept proposition.

"Sheep in the Box" steps right up to t ...