Directors: David Zellner
By Alex Watson
Bolstered by some stunning photography by Sean Porter and a wonderfully subtle and touching performance by Rinko Kikuchi, David Zellner's, Kumiko The Treasure Hunter is a poignant journey of discovery. Based on the real life but tragic story of Japanese officer worker, Takako Konishi, there is also a heavy morbidity hanging over events which culminates in a heartbreaking feel. Tough the bizarre fixation of the leading character gives the movie a quirky brilliance that is hard to ignore.
Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi) is an introverted loner who works a boring and monotonous job in a Tokyo office. But when she discovers and old and abused VHS tape of the Coen Brothers movie, Fargo, she comes to believe that the briefcase of money buried in the film actually exists! To find this treasure, she impulsively sets off to Minnesota to locate it!
Mixed together with the Octopus Project's award winning score, Kumiko The Treasure Hunter is a different experience from the get go. Zellner is not concerned with using words to tell Kumiko's story, her hunched over body language and downbeat eyes say more than words ever could. To the movie's beginning we quickly establish that Kumiko is far from happy with her existence and the only real job she seems attain is from continually watching the old Fargo tape. Cleverly, the reasoning for her obsession is never made clear cut and we can only assume any number of scenarios.
Upon her arrival in Minnesota, the characters that she meets along the way are a charming mix of both warmth but also filled with a great sadness. From a gregarious old lady (Shirley Venard), a religious travel agent (played by co-writer Nathan Zellner) to finally a helpful but concerned Deputy (David Zellner) all of whom treat Kumiko with understanding, but fail to grasp why she is braving a freezing Minnesota in search of a fictitious treasure. Even though the truth is bluntly given to her, Kumiko's reaction is one of pure denial and the reasoning for this only mystifies.
By the closing of Kumiko The Treasure Hunter, her quest has transformed her from a lonely individual who shunned human contact, to almost being a real hero. Even though inside we secretly worry like crazy, you cannot deny the resolve that she contains. The climax of Zellner's movie however will both charm and smash your heart completely. But through everything, we are given a heroine that is both unique and quietly magnificent.
Rinko Kikuchi throughout is a magnetic screen presence and gives a performance that is one almost muted wonder. Using a lack of words and saying little to even her closest family, she channels Kumiko's disillusion with the world and her desire to escape. One of films most underrated talents, Kikuchi demonstrates the qualities that are making her a rising star.
One of 2015's most offbeat yet memorable journey's, Kumiko The Treasure Hunter is one that will steal your heart. Just imagine what could have happened if she had watched Muppets Treasure Island?
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