The gullible nature and boundless optimism of one Japanese woman is explored in the upcoming Zellner Brothers release, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter. The flick drew positive reviews after its debut at last year’s Sundance Film Festival yet still took a while to land a U.S. distributor. Thankfully, the wildly imaginative caper – a result of its leading lady – is on its way to theaters shortly, and ahead of its release, the first full-length trailer has arrived. And it’s simply wonderful.
Based on the true story of a Tokyo office worker, Kumiko, the movie chronicles her journey to the snowy climes of North Dakota, USA. After discovering a mysterious VHS tape of the Coen Brothers’ movie Fargo, she believes it to be a documentary and vows to retrieve the massive suitcase of cash that Steve Buscemi buries in the snow. He did tag it with a tiny snow scraper to mark its place, so, she at least has that to go on.
Pacific Rim‘s Rinko Kikuchi is the main reason why this trailer bursts with compassion. Her enthusiastic performance, walking the middle ground between excitable and manic, is spot-on perfect.
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter opens in the U.S. on March 18th. Take a look at the trailer above and let us know what you think.
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.
