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KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER Send This Review to a Friend
One of the most unusual films of the year thus far is certainly “Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter,” directed by David Zellner, who wrote it with his brother Nathan Zellner. The film boasts a strong performance by Rinko Kikuchi in the title role, a woman who becomes obsessed with a a goal and is undeterred in trying to achieve it no matter the obstacles.
In Tokyo 29-year-old Kumiko works as an office assistant. She sees a video of the movie “Fargo,” in which a case of money is buried, and she gets it in her head that this is a documentary and real money lies there for the taking. Kumiko fancies herself a conquistador and plots to get to the new world and find the treasure.
Obviously Kumiko is a bit dim-witted, yet likable for her romantic obsession. What’s especially interesting about the film in its early stages is the portrait of life in the office environment in which she works. The other women shun her, and her boss, while kindly, reveals the bias faced by women as he lectures Kumiko about the need for younger women to get the jobs while the others have to get married and make way for them. We see a rebellious streak in Kumiko, who when she prepares tea for her boss likes to spice it with a bit of her spit.
We hear phone conversations between Kumiko and her haranguing mother, who wants her to move back home if she isn’t married, and we see the estrangement between Kumiko and a young woman who wants to remain friendly. Kumiko has one thing on her mind—get to Fargo, North Dakota and dig up the money. She has elaborate maps that she uses. She steals her boss’s credit card to pay for a ticket to Minneapolis. And so on.
We follow Kumiko’s adventures, and once in the United States, she is helped by a friendly deputy, a lawman who does his best to convince her that “Fargo” is fiction, not real. Director David Zellner casts himself in the part and is convincingly sympathetic. (The film was apparently inspired by the death of a Japanese woman in Minnesota and a legend that developed around her.)
Before Kumiko leaves Japan, she must free her pet rabbit, and her efforts to shoo the bunny away can tug at the heart. Once in America, she encounters fierce winter and snow-covered terrain. What will the ending be? The Zellner brothers have concocted a good one. Mainly, they have come up with an engrossing, exquisitely-filmed, original movie following the adventure of a woman who knows what she wants and will devote herself to fulfilling her dream. And actress Rinko Kikuchi gives it strength with her memorable performance. An Amplify release. Reviewed March 15, 2015.
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