Kumiko the Treasure Hunter is based, in very small part, on a story that was circulated after the film Fargo debuted. A Japanese woman reportedly left everything and moved to the Minnesota/Dakota area in an insane search for the treasure that was buried in snow in the film Fargo. Apparently, she thought that the film was 100% real and it was speaking to her and urging her to drop everything to find the money. There are two huge problems with this. First, although Fargo says it's a true story--so there's no treasure. Second, the dead woman found in Minnesota (Takako Konishi) had a life that was nothing like the story of Kumiko. So regardless of what you think of all this, please understand this is all myth.

A film can be based on urban legends and still be compelling. Is this one? To put it bluntly, no. Although the camera-work in this film is wonderful and is clearly the highlight of the story, the plot is very tough to endure. The first portion of the movie consists of Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi) staring into space, barely going through the motions at her job and obsessing over the film Fargo. It's obvious that the character is both clinically depressed as well as losing contact with reality. But this part of the film lasts half the movie. As a result, it's painfully slow and easily could have been done in ten minutes or less. Because of this, my attention frequently flagged and this would most likely be true for most viewers.

The second half consists of Kumiko stealing her company credit card and heading off to the States without planning it in the least. Armed only with a DVD of Fargo and no winter clothing, she lands in Minnesota (which is very far from Fargo, North Dakota) and wanders about aimlessly. Some folks try to help her, but Kimiko is mentally ill and just keeps wandering off into the freezing cold snow.

If all of this sounds pretty dull, you pretty much understand why I was so unimpressed by the movie. I honestly cannot see many people sitting through the entire film because of its slow pacing and threadbare plot. Plus, finding any sense of meaning behind all this is difficult, if not impossible. The bottom line is that I DO love strange, quirky films (many of which are Japanese films),this film is just too slow, tedious and 'anti-fun', I cannot recommend it even if the winter camera-work was outstanding and the story unusual.

KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER is a quirky character piece partly based on reality. It tells the tale of a young and lonely Japanese woman who becomes obsessed with the Coen brothers film FARGO, convinced that the treasure buried in the snow in that film is real. To this end, she makes an odyssey to America, determine to find the treasure and become rich as a result. It's an odd set up for sure but this exemplary film works very well. It's a mix of subtle character humour and the tragedy inherent in the premise. Fans of social commentary will be delighted with the film's exploration of the place of young, single women in the workplace in Japanese and the psychological effects that the rejection of normal society may have.

I was previously aware of lead actress Rinko Kikuchi through her role in the Hollywood blockbuster 47 RONIN. In that, she was absolutely dreadful, giving a scenery-chewing performance as an evil witch. In KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER, she's a delight, delivering a nuanced performance mostly through her expressions and her eyes alone. I challenge any viewer not to be choked up during the subway scene or to be moved by her character's plight. She's a refreshingly ordinary and damaged heroine, one you can really root for. The direction of this film is excellent throughout with, as you'd expect, lots of fine cinematography of the snowy countryside. It's not exactly a true story, but as a piece of cinema it's a small delight.

It would be one thing if the filmmakers, David Zellner (director) and brother/co-writer Nathan Zellner, were coming up with the idea for Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter out of whole cloth. It's certainly one of the best 'hooks' (or as the industry calls then 'loglines') in many years: a young woman from Tokyo is obsessed with the scene from Fargo where Steve Buscemi hides the suitcase full of money by the fence, buried in the snow, and never comes back for it. Naturally, as she assumes from the opening title card telling the audience 'This is Based on a True Story' that the suitcase is still there, and goes to Fargo to find it. The thing that makes things even wilder to find out (though this is after the film ends) that while the Coen brothers' Fargo is not based on a true case (it was their sort of satire of movies that do the 'true story' for artistic license),Kumiko, strangely enough, is.

According to IMDb, a woman naked Takako Konishi actually watched the movie Fargo and went out to try and find it. At least, that's the extent to which the movie and real life connect. Perhaps the Zellners took license from there; certainly it would seem to make sense, but they take this true event (from a not-true event from the film) and use it as a way of jumping off into a character study of this rather lonely woman. Or, one should say, she's perhaps alone but not exactly lonely - except for one aspect involving her rabbit, which should be addressed - as she has this movie to give her hope outside of her dreary job and inquisitive mother.

She is not interested in meeting a man or getting married or having kids. In the one of the few moments we get some character development, we see that she considers herself a "Spanish Conquistador" going to "The New World" (this actually pops up as the title card when she arrives in Minnesota). So she makes a decision one day, not exactly on a whim but after what seems to be much thought (and going through the possible tragedy of a torn VHS tape - how she finds the tape is never explained, same with the ending, but more on that in a moment),and leaves her rabbit on a subway car. This last part - the bunny is Bunzo, can't forget that - seems oddly sad, just by nature of this character having a pet its cared for and now the pet's no longer there. Plus, it's a cute bunny after all.

There's a bit of culture clash - apparently there's no one who's Japanese up in Minnesota/North Dakota, Kumiko knows very little English, and the one helpful Deputy in town (played by director Zellner) thinks a worker at a Chinese restaurant can help translate. There's a few moments of sort of awkward comedy here, which if I had to be honest were the parts that worked for me the least. Maybe this is where the Alexander Payne connection comes in (he's executive producer here),and there's one character in particular that seems air-lifted out of a Payne film into Kumiko's journey. But it's ultimately about what Kumiko is going and how she is going to get there. It's predictable stuff to see these sort of folks in this environment, even as it is refreshing to see a police officer depicted as just a straight-shooting, caring person like the Deputy here.

This concept could have been delivered in a few ways. This could have gone even more into meta terrain based on the 'real' 'fake' real' 'fake' sort of play at work, or even been more exuberant or crazy; certainly, when one hears about this idea for a story, it has to come down to execution. I think those who hear about it like that may be thrown off or even disappointed by what Kumiko the Treasure Hunter is. It's much more of a film about its own sense of magic realism, that this indicator of treasure is discovered one day in a cave off of a beach (why is she there, what for, who knows it's there),and then when the ending comes, which, spoiler, she DOES find the suitcase in the snow (with Bunzo present),it feels like it's gone off from reality.

Is this in her head? I think its ambiguity is not unearned but part of a kind of dreamy logic that is really all about a dreamer. It's most telling that Werner Herzog has a glowing recommendation on the front of the blu-ray; many of his films deal with people trying to find something great that is beyond them, yet the vehicle of cinematic expression itself makes things more realer than reality, that it carries on an extra dimension for an audience member (i.e. Aguirre as an actual Conquistador, or Fitzcarraldo with the ship, or Stroszek, also set in the North Mid-West, which I thought of a few times). It's a downright Herzogian trip, and the lead Rinko Kikuchi (you may recall from Babel and Pacific Rim) is outstanding in scenes where she has to also play it (and even wear that red hood, a fairy tale character with a blanket-shield) as ambiguously as the writers have it: is she crazy? Is she a little 'off'? Who's to say?

I don't think the filmmakers ever judge her for a moment, and that's why this story works - on the contrary, if anything she is practically lifted to mythic status, and it will deliver different things depending on the audience watching. Do you want a sad ending or happy ending? Should a dreamer like Kumiko get what she's after? Like the film that Kumiko is obsessing over, it's never quite so clear.