Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014)

A jaded Japanese woman discovers a hidden copy of Fargo (1996) on VHS, believing it to be a treasure map indicating the location of a large case of money.

Director:

David Zellner

Writers:

David Zellner, Nathan Zellner

Stars:

Rinko Kikuchi, Nobuyuki Katsube, Kanako Higashi

10 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rinko Kikuchi	...	Kumiko
Nobuyuki Katsube	...	Sakagami
Kanako Higashi	...	Michi
Ichi Kyokaku	...	Library Security Guard
Ayaka Ohnishi	...	Chieko (Young Office Girl)
Mayuko Kawakita	...	Ms. Kanazaki
Asami Tano	...	Office Lady
Ako Yoshida	...	Office Lady
Anna Wakamori	...	Office Lady
Risa Hotta	...	Office Lady
Hitomi Sawano	...	Office Lady
Maki Issô	...	Office Lady
Ariei Umefune	...	Office Lady
Takao Kinoshita	...	Dry Cleaning Clerk
Tetsuya Hayakawa	...	Dancing Couple

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.

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Plot Keywords:

treasure | rabbit | language barrier | female protagonist | mental illness | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

20 February 2015 (UK)

Also Known As:

Kumiko

Filming Locations:

Minnesota, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$34,114, 22 March 2015, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$621,127, 31 May 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lila 9th Productions,Ad Hominem Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a Q&A at the London Sundance Film Festival 2014, the director (and his brother who was not present) claimed that the ambiguous introduction was heavily influenced by the beginnings of the James Bond films that they so loved as children.

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Goofs

When Kumiko calls her Mother in the middle of the night and tells her she couldn't sleep, it should have triggered some reaction from the mother. Because of the time difference between Minnesota and Tokyo (14 hours), it is never nighttime in Tokyo when it is in Minnesota.

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Quotes

Older Woman: Solitude? It's just fancy loneliness.

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Crazy Credits

The credits are almost entirely bilingual in English and Japanese -- even though the movie has never been released in Japan as of early 2016 (either in theaters, media, or internet streaming).

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Connections

Version of This Is a True Story (2003)

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Soundtracks

Yamasuki
Written by Daniel Vangarde (as Daniel Bangalter) (SACEM), Jean Joseph Kluger (SACEM)
Performed by Yamasuki Singers
Published by September Music Corp. (ASCAP) o/b/o Bleu Blanc Rouge Editions (SACEM)
Courtesy of Jean Kluger

User Reviews

A movie that peters out in dullness

A movie that starts well, but in the end is a big disappointment. The basic building blocks are good: a troubled and unbalanced Japanese woman is convinced she has spotted something worth investigating and following, presumably because it will get her out of the dreary life she is shackled to. The story then takes one or two slight turns and runs out in an ending that has not only been done hundreds of times in the past, but has been done mostly much better that this one. The result is that one is left convinced that the makers of the tale did not actually know how to end it and went for the first (and cheapest) escape that will hopefully leave some people with a vague suspicion that the ending may be "deep". It is not. It is merely flat and disappointing. This movie had a phase (when Kumiko meets a sympathetic policemen in a snow covered landscape) when it could have gone somewhere, but it did not. It took the much traveled path towards its vague and boring end. It is mostly wasted time to watch this movie.