Film No. 18 (2015) March 21st. 7.30 PM SOMERVILLE U.W.A. Nedlands.
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
This very quaint but sad tale has a wonderful atmosphere as it allows us to experience two very contrasting cultures through the eyes of a very confused young lady, Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi).
Kumiko lives a dreary life in Tokyo. Her shoebox of an apartment, her tyrannical boss and her mental limitations, lead her to a loneliness beautifully contrasted against a city of 22 million people. We meet her early in the story as she uncovers a VHS tape of the classic Coen brothers film Fargo. The discovery gives us a hint of the surreal nature of what is to come.
Using her archaic VHS player Kumiko becomes obsessed with a scene from Fargo depicting Steve Buscemi's character Carl burying a leather case full of $100 bills in thick, icy snow on the outskirts of Brainerd near Fargo, North Dakota. So obsessed is Kumiko that she decides to escape her life of dreariness by undertaking a quest to retrieve this fictional treasure . There is a clever juxtaposition between the official Fargo poster and the embroidery Kumiko produces to recreate the exact positioning of the treasure.
And so it goes. Kumiko travels to North Dakota and in the vein of Forrest Gump meets a variety of eccentric people who take her under their collective wings and point her in a direction which leads to her final destination. There are flashes of Altman in the character driven scenes. Finally, while the film unfolds whimsically, the undertones of Kumiko's mental state enfold us in sadness as the curtain is drawn on our innocent adventurer. I love films that shed new and different lights on subjects often depicted on film. 8GUMS
Kumiko lives a dreary life in Tokyo. Her shoebox of an apartment, her tyrannical boss and her mental limitations, lead her to a loneliness beautifully contrasted against a city of 22 million people. We meet her early in the story as she uncovers a VHS tape of the classic Coen brothers film Fargo. The discovery gives us a hint of the surreal nature of what is to come.
Using her archaic VHS player Kumiko becomes obsessed with a scene from Fargo depicting Steve Buscemi's character Carl burying a leather case full of $100 bills in thick, icy snow on the outskirts of Brainerd near Fargo, North Dakota. So obsessed is Kumiko that she decides to escape her life of dreariness by undertaking a quest to retrieve this fictional treasure . There is a clever juxtaposition between the official Fargo poster and the embroidery Kumiko produces to recreate the exact positioning of the treasure.
And so it goes. Kumiko travels to North Dakota and in the vein of Forrest Gump meets a variety of eccentric people who take her under their collective wings and point her in a direction which leads to her final destination. There are flashes of Altman in the character driven scenes. Finally, while the film unfolds whimsically, the undertones of Kumiko's mental state enfold us in sadness as the curtain is drawn on our innocent adventurer. I love films that shed new and different lights on subjects often depicted on film. 8GUMS
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