Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014)

Kumiko requires a lot of post-film reflection, as one tries to figure out what the point of it all really was. On the whole, it seems to be a story about a confused, naive and depressed young woman on the search for a better life, or at least something different.The slow opening of the film set in Tokyo does run on a little long, but once Kumiko arrives in America, we're treated to a lovely host of well-rounded characters that our titular character meets along her harsh journey through the freezing roads of Minnesota, beautiful imagery and an alluring performance from Kikuchi, not to mention the film's spot-on, deadpan comic timing.

Very interesting film about an isolated and apparently autistic girl who sets off to find an obsessional 'treasure' she believes she has discovered from a fictional movie.Although currently rated the same as 'Fast and Furious' on IMDb, which must be someone's idea of a bad joke, this movie is a work of art.The film, although humorous and often heartwarming, is in essence a tragic depiction of the search for meaning and self-worth in an individual who is alienated from the world and ultimately alone. The cinematography is at times hauntingly beautiful and the direction is superb.Well worth seeing.

I loved this film for its surreal story line and beautiful photography. Its about a girl who seems to be detached from the outside world and uninterested in engaging with work colleagues, family or old friends. She leads what seems to be a lonely life in a small apartment which she shares with her pet rabbit. One of the beautiful things about the film is that you can never really tell what Kumiko is thinking, or what her emotional state is. The film starts with Kumiko walking to a beach and using a map to locate what we expect to be treasure, but in fact is an old VHS copy of Fargo. This is the source of her inspiration to go hunting for the treasure hidden in that film. There are many great scenes and to me this is an instant classic. I particularly like Kumiko's determination and conviction when everyone else is telling her she is mad. She is a really interesting character.

In this darkly comedic odyssey, Academy Award nominee Rinko Kikuchi (Babel, Pacific Rim) stars as Kumiko, a frustrated Office Lady whose imagination transcends the confines of her mundane life. Kumiko becomes obsessed with a mysterious, battered VHS tape of a popular film she's mistaken for a documentary, fixating on a scene where a suitcase of stolen cash is buried in the desolate, frozen landscape of North Dakota. Believing this treasure to be real, she leaves behind Tokyo and her beloved rabbit Bunzo to recover it - and finds herself on a dangerous adventure unlike anything she's seen in the movies. With Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, indie mavericks the Zellner Bros. spin a strangely touching underdog fable, populated by eccentrics and elevated to sonic heights by a Sundance award-winning score from electro-indie outfit The Octopus Project, that will leave audiences rooting for the impossible.