Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (2014) [Blu-ray]
Drama

From indie film mavericks David & Nathan Zellner (Kid-Thing, Goliath) comes the "ally original" (Entertainment Weekly) and "quietly magnificent" (The Guardian) Sundance sensation inspired by a shocking 'true' story: Academy Award nominee Rinko Kikuchi (Babel, Pacific Rim) is "stunning" (Indiewire) as Kumiko, a sad and lonely Tokyo office assistant who finds a battered VHS tape of a popular film she's mistaken for a documentary, becomes convinced that the movie's buried suitcase of cash is real. But when Kumiko heads to frozen North Dakota to locate her fortune, she'll discover that the line between reality and obsession may be the most elusive treasure of all. "Part road movie, part treasure hunt, it's an emotionally charged gem," says WeGotThisCovered.com. "This is a film that dares to dream, and dares you to dream with it!"

Storyline: A jaded Japanese woman becomes convinced that a satchel of money buried and lost in a fictional film, Fargo, is in fact, real. With a crudely drawn treasure map and limited preparation, she escapes her structured life in Tokyo and embarks on a foolhardy quest across the tundra of Minnesota in search of her mythical fortune. Written by Anonymous

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, June 26, 2015 -- Cinema has often been described as something akin to magic, a medium that, like books, is said to be able to transport audiences to another place, to make them believe in the unbelievable, to share tales of the fantastic and make them extensions of reality under the hypnotic capabilities of master storytellers who, beyond the capabilities of the mere written word or oral retellings, can shape a place, thing, person, and time into something far more tangible than any other form of art. And sometimes, for someone, that magic can seem all too real. There may be that one individual who becomes so obsessed with the ideas of fiction and the stories of something better that they lose their connections with reality. For them, that magic portal becomes a mirror through which their world is falsely reflected, relaying an image that becomes more than entertainment or parable and instead an obsession, a promise that cannot be kept, a dream that cannot be fulfilled, an idea that cannot be manifested in the here and now. Director David Zellner's Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter tells the fictitious story of one such individual, driven to obsession by a misguided notion that one fictional film actually represents a hidden path not only to great wealth but the ultimate escape from her dreary life. Inspired by the urban legend of a Japanese woman who travelled to the frigid American north in search of buried treasure, the film offers a brilliant depiction of the obsessed mind and the dangers and consequences of misguided determination.

Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi) follows a map to a beachside cave where she unearths a long-buried videocassette. On it is a copy of the film Fargo. She's obsessed with a scene in which Steve Buscemi's character buries a case full of cash, right in front of a wire fence in the middle of snowy nowhere. For whatever reason, Kumiko interprets the scene to mean that the case is still there, waiting to be found. She meticulously calculates its exact whereabouts using every last shred of evidence available to her on the fuzzy image she constantly replays on her small television monitor. When she's given a workplace credit card, she seizes the opportunity to leave her native Japan for Minneapolis, Minnesota, putting her practically within arm's reach of her dream. As she faces the brutal cold, polite yet unhelpful strangers, and a sudden shortage of cash, she steadfastly follows her handmade map in hopes of striking it rich and realizing her dream.

While Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter brings to mind Nebraska, another recent masterpiece about naiveté, obsession, and the long, hard journey that seems destined to end in disappointment, the similarities begin and end with the shared basic themes and story drivers. Kumiko challenges the audience to construct its own backstory of the film's title character. Her obsession -- particularly how it began or what physical or underlying emotional condition drives her -- is left largely to the imagination, and while its ending isn't quite so ambiguous, the film leaves open plenty of avenues for interpretation both in terms of raw reality and in terms of thematic purpose. It's the character's actions rather than descriptive backstory that shape her and her essence. The film masters the balancing act between presenting audiences with a quick snapshot, essentially, of a few brief moments in time but simultaneously building a full, deep character who is at once easy to read and mysteriously complex. The character is defined almost entirely by her obsession, from the way she interacts with acquaintances (brushing them aside, escaping into herself) to how she forcefully pushes forward with no regard for the way things work (ditching a cab, stealing a blanket in the name of the quest). For Kumiko, the obsession is everything. For the audience, the obsession comes by way of discovering the character through her quest, in witnessing, on one hand, an almost pitiful individual whose life seems destined for ruin for her failure to grasp the simplest of ideas and, on the other, an admirable, unbreakable determination to see a plan to fruition.

Furthering the film's mesmerizing narrative is Director David Zellner's impeccable presentation. He certainly understands the value of simplicity in storytelling, of allowing a shot, scene, sequence -- the entire film -- to present with a clean, straightforward flow. Shots linger and allow everything the film has to offer, from its broad strokes to its intimately implied characterization, to unfold with stunning effectiveness. Rather than dashing and dodging, swooping and sweeping, Zellner presents the movie in such a way that the audience gradually falls into it rather than simply watches it scoot by. That the film sometimes moves almost in something akin to dramatic slow motion -- combined with a magnificently understated yet determined and thoughtful lead performance from Rinko Kikuchi -- gives it a much larger sense of importance as small details help shape the greater story, given the necessary time to develop and sink in without feeling like a cinematic burden or some sort of necessary evil crutch without which it cannot stand. The film plays with remarkable understanding of the cinema craft, the story's most initiate details, and the character's innermost thoughts, all of which come together into one of the most spellbinding movies of 2014.

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter is a standout film, a rare example of a picture that absolutely nails every last little detail. Whether its broad construction or its most intimate character presentations, whether its fascinating story or shadowy details, whether its entertainment value or its dramatic purpose, the film mesmerizes in every way. It's a precise, absorbing character study and a terrific example of the cinema medium at its finest. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release offers strong video, great audio, and a couple of extras. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter comes very highly recommended.

[CSW] -3.6- First a bit of history. The story is based around the urban legend surrounding the 2001 death of Takako Konishi who was reported in the media to have died of hypothermia outside Detroit Lakes, Minnesota in search of the fictional ransom money seen buried in the snow from the 1996 film Fargo. In actuality, Konishi had simply committed suicide. Now back to the movie. Trapped in a life she wishes to escape from, Kumiko's flights of fancy take a serious turn when she becomes convinced that a scene from the movie Fargo reveals the location of the hidden treasure, she has spent so much of her life longing to discover. The story takes a while to develop, but it does a good job of putting things in perspective, as she reaches a point of no return and commits herself to a course of action that teeters on edge of rationality, and has few prospects for success. Along the way she encounters the beauty and the harshness of the northern winter, while meeting several nicely earnest characters, who do their level best to help her in spite of various challenges and misunderstandings. Some lighter moments, a bit of weirdness, and plenty of determination, are all beautifully filmed and performed, with the story aptly dovetailing with its inspirations, before ending in a manner that is inevitable. All cast members are great, but the performance by the lead (Rinko Kikuchi) is one of the most impressive I've ever seen, her portrayal of a quietly-deranged woman is fantastic. If you can identify and sympathize at all with her you will actually enjoy this movie, if not you will probably find it depressing and weird.
[V4.0-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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