Skip to main content
Countless films are influenced by the Coen Brothers, but few announce it outright like this one from another pair of filmmaking brothers, David and Nathan Zellner, whose Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter tells of a lost soul in Tokyo who takes her fascination with Fargo to dangerous extremes. Tired of a lonely life sharing noodles with her pet bunny and watching neighbors dance through their kitchen window, the eponymous seeker (Rinko Kikuchi) fixates on the Coens' Minnesota neo-noir Fargo. Specifically, the cash-filled briefcase Steve Buscemi's character buries in the snow. What follows evinces a clear love of cinema on the Zellners' part, but also a wariness of immersion turning into obsession.
Kumiko is gorgeously shot and scored, with a dreamlike ambience and slow-burning narrative that vacillates between beautiful and unsettling. It opens on a fuzzy, VHS copy of the film in question, with the (false) disclaimer assuring Kumiko it's "a true story." Outlandish though it may seem for anyone to believe the film's claim, the Zellners never demean Kumiko. They're endlessly sympathetic toward her, and viewers can't help but share that sentiment.
A loner who hides workplace troubles from her mother over the phone, Kumiko mentally detaches from her oppressive office job (and sexist older boss) long before setting off to unearth buried treasure. The possibility that said fortune may not actually exist never occurs to her, but she's set on Minnesota regardless. There may not be the promise of a new life waiting for her in its snow, but there's certainly nothing for Kumiko in Tokyo.
"How go to Fargo?" Kumiko asks anyone who will listen upon her arrival in Minnesota, including several Good Samaritans who force well-intended help on her. An elderly widow houses her, and a police officer in the Marge Gunderson tradition buys her boots at Goodwill. When the cop tortuously explains that Fargo is a work of fiction and there are no stacks of cash to be found, Kumiko goes into denial and her monomaniacal fixation only intensifies.
In a lesser film, Kimiko's innocence and her bunny, Bunzo, could easily devolve into the precious but hollow quirks typical of indie features. But the trajectory of Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter is too tragic for precociousness or to inspire much laughter.
Critic's Grade: B+
SEE IT: Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter opens Friday at Hollywood Theatre.
WWeek 2015