USA – 2014 – 105 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH & JAPANESE
A FILM BY DAVID ZELLNER
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.
" an offbeat and subtle take on the old-fashioned descent-into-madness." - Toronto Sun
"full of such wonky moments and snatches of dark humour" - National Post
NNNN "Fictional or not, you won't soon forget her" - NOW Magazine
"a beautifully rendered and touching odyssey of the soul." - Toronto Film Scene
silly and unsettling; an intoxicating realm that derives considerable tension from the fact that anything seems possible and yet our heroine’s fate seems heartbreakingly preordained. And as it spirals deeper into ambiguity, Kumiko serves as a testament to cinema’s sway." - Westender
"an alert mix of humour and pathos" - Toronto Star
"‘Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter’ strikes gold thanks to Rinko Kikuch" - Cinefilles
"a stunning film based on the real-life story of a young Japanese woman who took a similar disclaimer at the start of a movie too literally." - Digital Journal
Treasure Hunting: Five Questions with the Zellner Brothers - Scene Creek
Interview with the Zellner Bros - The Film Corner
"beautifully filmed, with plenty of interesting little moments along the way" - One Movie Our Views
"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." - AZN Modern
"The flip side of Fargo, in a Japanese accent" - Express.ca