Written by the Zellner brothers (David and Nathan, with the former also taking on directorial duties and a small role in the film), Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter is a film that uses the fact/fiction-blurring of Fargo as inspiration for a beautiful little character study.
Rinko Kikuchi plays the titular Kumiko, a woman who one day finds a VHS copy of Fargo in a cave. Intrigued by that opening title card, the one that the Coen brothers used to cheekily label their darkly comedic crime caper as a true story, Kumiko starts to think that she is destined to find that briefcase of cash that film fans last saw being covered over by snow. Trying to pinpoint the location of that treasure has to be a better alternative to her life as it is, which involves her working for a boss she doesn't like, who in turn doesn't like her, and being berated by her mother for not finding a suitable man to marry yet. Kumiko is 29, which means she should already be settled into domestic bliss, apparently.
The Zellner brothers seem to have a knack for crafting enjoyably unique films, and it looks like they have been doing a good job of it for many years. I wish I could say that I'd seen more of their work, but I've so far only managed to check out the film they made before this, Kid-Thing (which I highly recommend). More of their films have been on my "to watch" list for some time though. Time waits for nobody, especially when you have to push stuff aside to get through every entry in the Lake Placid series.
On the one hand, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter is a film all about a lonely and desperate woman who thinks she has stumbled on to a way to create her own happy ending. On the other hand, it's all about the escape provided by art. That escape is something that many of us take for granted, and perhaps even forget about, even while we ourselves are being offered that window of time away from our own thoughts and problems, but it's a lifeline for many others. A great film can act as a precious memory, available to loop again and again to create your own little piece of paradise. A book is a doorway to another world. A painting can show you vibrancy and beauty that you'd forgotten even existed in the world, as well as offering a multitude of interpretations available to every different person who views it. The fact that Kumiko mistakes the events of Fargo for a literal truth is a problem, but it's also ultimately a way for her to motivate herself to get away from an environment that hasn't given her one ounce of joy in many years.
Other people help to fill out the cast, including David Zellner himself, but this film is carried along by Kikuchi, and what a strong, captivating, lead she is. Timid, confused, frustrated, at times sweet and impish, Kumiko is a character that you end up fully supporting in her quest, as futile as we know it is. There can't be any happy ending here, no satisfying resolution, and Kumiko could put herself in serious, even fatal, danger while chasing her delusion. But Kikuchi has an earnestness that has you hoping for something impossible to happen, and it helps that she conveys the absolute (misplaced) conviction of her character in every scene that has her focused on the treasure hunt.
A wonderful, moving, film that plays out, partially, as a love letter to Fargo, and makes use of it as the central plot point without ever making it all seem laughable, Kumiko, Treasure Hunter should easily become a firm favourite for anyone who sees it. It's almost perfect, and it is perhaps ironic that the minor points that work against it are the moments in which reality refuses to be kept at bay, pushing and prodding at Kumiko until she gathers enough strength to swat it away again.
9/10
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