Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter

LONELY CREATURES AT BERLINALE FORUM 2014

(USA 2014, directed by David Zellner with Rinko Kikuchi, Nathan Zellner, David Zellner | 105 min)

Critique by Sieva Diamantakos

Rinko Kikuchi in Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter

Here’s another Berlinale Forum film that lays on the boundaries between realism and fairytale. Kumiko, a young Japanese woman who lives in Tokyo, finds a tape in a cave on a beach. In “Fargo”, one of the masterpieces of the Cohen brothers, a suitcase full of money is buried in a Minnesota city of the same name. Kumiko’s life has a new aim, something that was apparently missing since the lead character showed every sign of an alienated existence.

The first part the movie stresses the loneliness of the main character, who has practically no friends, a job as office lady that she hates, and an empty relation with her mother whose only concern seems to be finding her daughter a husband or else convincing her to move back home, and so on. But fate offers Kumiko an opportunity; her boss gives her his credit card in order to buy a present for his wife and she uses it to book a ticket to Minnesota instead. The film turns now into a road movie where Kumiko will trail her treasure, trying to reach the spot she saw in the film.

There she would battle the cold weather, the lack of money and confront people living in those small towns, who are sceptical about her quest.

As I said before, this is a kind of modern fairytale; Rinko Kikuchi perfectly plays the role of a borderline personality which struggles to find a place in this world. What happens to her, especially in the first part of the movie when she is still in Tokyo, is charged with a certain degree of surrealism. The scenes in which she meets an old friend of hers, or where a new girl is coming to work, or when she looks out of the window and she sees a couple dancing in another apartment, are so peculiar as to register as absurd.

Some visionary moments occur also when in the US which transcends the topic of alienation and isolation in the modern world. The inability to communicate is explored in a completely different environment; language plays a big role because Kumiko does not understand English very well, but this is clearly not her only obstacle. She encounters people who lead a simple life. The naive sheriff (played by Zellner), the old woman who wants to host “the treasure hunter” simply to abate the loneliness she feels after the loss of her husband, and, in the end, even a deaf taxi driver.

The director shows a substantial amount of irony that helps him to dig into these themes  without making the storytelling too dissuasive for the audience. Having said this, all the characters presented by David Zellner are lonely creatures. It is irrelevant if they live in the countryside or in a big city as this is something that at most changes the way they face their solitude, but not their existential state. Another important topic that emerges from the work of David Zellner is the contrast between a Japan that remains traditional and the changes of the contemporary world. The director shows nicely how, for certain individuals, these contradictions are not so easy to cope with. Kumiko feels trapped in a city which leaves no room for an alternative way of life.

The photography of the film is undoubtedly beautiful; the red overcoat that the lead character wears contrasts with the cold city as well as with the snowy northern American landscape. Colours are vivid and the style is rigorous, a good choice for this odd fairytale.

I personally appreciate the message that unfolds in the last sequences of Zellner’s work, but, to talk about that, I would spoil the ending which would be a disservice to those interested in watching this great movie.

Rating: * * * *

Rinko Kikuchi in Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter