KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER

US/Japan, 2014, 105 minutes, Colour.
Rinko Kikuchi, David Zelllner, Nathan Zellner, Shirley Renard.
Directed by David Zellner.

This is an offbeat film, a mixture of the odd and the exotic. It is a kind of homage to the Brothers Coen, with special reference to the film, Fargo.

The first part of the film takes place in Japan, as might be gathered title, and the name of the heroine, Kumiko. She is a 29-year-old, living alone (and when we hear her conversations with her nagging mother who is desperate for her to get married, we are not surprised that she has moved out). She has a humdrum job in an office, not really communicating with the rest of the staff, having to bring coffee into the boss who is not always grateful. There are establishing scenes in the city, dialogue in Japanese, and we can experience something of life in Tokyo.

Kumiko finds a VHS copy of the movie, Fargo, more than a bit scratchy, which she tries to fix, but the fix, the fixation, is on the money sequences of the plot, especially at the end of the film when the suitcase of money is buried in the snow. Somehow or other, she takes all of this as real and realises that she now has a quest in life, to travel to Minnesota, find the case, claim the money and live happily ever after.

The second half of the film takes place in the United States, in snowbound Minnesota, on the road to Fargo. She has only a small travelling bag and we wonder whether she has any money (later explained by her taking cash and credit card from the office). At the airport, she is greeted by two odd men who want to help her with her tourist problems, one an older man, the other a kind of born-again Christian only too ready to help. He is played by the co-writer and producer of the film, Nathan Zellner.

Kumiko has a lot of adventures on the road, getting out and walking in the ice when the bus breaks down, picked up by a kindly elderly lady who takes her home, feeds her, and tells her life story. But Kumiko runs away, taking a blanket and wrapping it round her, an odd sight on the highway. This time she is rescued by a policeman, a kind man, who also gets her a meal and buys some clothes. He is played by the co-writer and director, David Zellner.

As Kumiko wanders through the snow, looking for the fence and fence posts that she saw in the film and has drawn on a kind of map. We wonder where this quest could and will end.

And that is the point – the audience will have to see the film to find out!

Kumiko is well played as a naive innocent by Rinko Kikuchi, who has appeared in a number of American films including Babel and Nobody Wants the Night.

1. An offbeat drama with comic touches? For Japanese audiences? American audiences? World audiences?

2. Tokyo, the atmosphere, the city, apartments, the workplace? The contrast with the United States, Minnesota, the airport, the diner, homes, shops, on the road, the frozen fields, the fences? The snow? The musical score?

3. The title, expectations, about Kumiko, about her quest?

4. A tribute to the Coen brothers, to Fargo? The story, Kumiko watching the scenes, the money, burying the case? His seeing it as real, wanting to get the money and her fortune? Noting the fence, the posts, measuring the distance, the diagram, the decision to leave?

5. Kumiko, 29, her relationship with her mother, the mother’s phone calls, needling about marriage?

6. Kumiko at work, a loner, the boss and his coffee? The decision to leave, taking the credit card and the money?

7. In the US, the airport, no luggage, no idea where to go? The friendly tourist guide and his friend at the airport, in their office, the moral issues, the map? On the bus, the breakdown? Walking, the kind lady, inviting her home, the meal, the lady telling her story of her life? Kumiko, the blanket, getting out of the window? Going to the diner, the kindly policeman, the explanations, buying her a meal, clothes, taking the taxi, the deaf driver, the not paying, her wandering? In the fields, the attack of the dog? The cold?

8. Wandering, the fence, digging up the case, wandering into the future?

9. The range of characters in America, at the airport, the kind lady, the policeman, the taxi driver?

10. A fable?