The Zellner brothers’ melancholic character drama confidently explores the compulsive yearn for escapism through banality, disenchantment and rightful misanthropy.

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter‘s well-established thematic insistence on solitude amongst peers perpetually engages with issues of meta-cinema due to the innate reflexivity broached by film within film; audience within audience. The nominative protagonist through which the world of the treasure hunt is seen is very much the embodiment of the Zellners’ nuanced intention; being both the source and destination of escape.

All is filmed beautifully through Sean Porter’s deeply contemplative cinematography, studiously furthering Kumiko‘s darkly cerebral quality.

The Zellner brothers competently recreate the tonal aura of the Coen brothers’ coincidentally influential Fargo. Mournful in its approach, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter affectingly considers the torturous unattainability of true escapism. 

RATING: 5/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Rinko Kikuchi, Nobuyuki Katsube, Shirley Venard

DIRECTOR: David Zellner

WRITERS: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner

SYNOPSIS: A jaded Japanese woman discovers a hidden copy of Fargo on VHS, believing it to be a treasure map indicating the location of a large case of money.