If those crazy, kooky, Coen Brothers films weren’t enough, one of their most famous, FARGO, has spawned a kooky, crazy spin-off by another talented two, sibling cineasts, David and Nathan Zellner.
In KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER, the proverbial “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” is by necessity given a rewording eliminating imitation and replacing it with inspiration, bestowing on the film the honest dignity of genius and virtue.
Rinko Kukuchi, the academy award nominated actress from Babel, plays the titular Kumiko, a spinster secretary to a sleazy Tokyo salary man, whose secret obsession is weekend fossicking with her rabbit sidekick, Bunzo.
In a kelp strewn cave she discovers an old VHS cassette. A pirate copy it is not. Oblivious, or at least unconcerned that watching old video tapes may pave the promise of peril according to the premise of a notorious home grown horror flick, Kumiko views the Coen classic and becomes convinced that Steve Buscemi’s character busily burying a bag full of banknotes in the snow banked Minnesota roadside is a real person, and that her quest in life is to travel to the United States and recover the stash.
So begins a trans country treasure hunt where this determined, delusional damsel discovers most of her distresses soothed by the characters she meets along the way. Lost in translation but found in fundamental friendship, citizens and officials endeavour to facilitate Kumiko’s odd odyssey without really knowing what her quest is.
Both Zelner brothers appear in the movie, with David playing a policeman with the persona of a kindred spirit to Fargo’s Marge Gunderson.
Based on a true story that reflects fact is notably stranger than fiction, KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER is a genuine cinematic treasure, a chest of jest, quest and ultimately the best in human empathy.
A trove of memorable characters combined with geographical and emotional landscape and cultural nuance elevate what could have been quirky costume jewellery trinkets to sparkling precious gems of performance, cinematography, design and narrative structure.
With KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER, the Zelner siblings rival both the Cohens and our own Spierig brothers in imaginative, engaging, and entertaining cinema.