Kumiko: A Treasure of a Film – TADFF
Once upon a time there was a single 29 year old Tokyo “Office Lady”. Her name was Kumiko (played by Pacific Rim’s Rinko Kikuchi). She wore a red coat, despite the fact everyone else is in dark colours. Everyday she faced monsters. The first, her mother who only wants her to get married, that or move back home. The second, her boss who wonders about her disheveled appearance, while the other office ladies talk about getting their eyelashes permed. (Of course he doesn’t know about her spitting into his cup of tea everyday.)
She was unable to avoid meeting with a friend who is married and has a five year old daughter. That is the perfect life she is supposed to have.
Kumiko liked puzzles. One led her to a hidden VHS copy of Fargo. You know, the movie which starts with this image:
Remember English is her Second Language
And then she sees where the treasure is buried. And she wears out the tape going over and over the fence scene.
Yup another image from another movie.
One day, Kumiko’s boss introduces her to a younger model without bothering to say it’s her replacement. He also sends Kumiko to pick up an anniversary present for his wife: “something nice”. To do so, she’s given the corporate credit card – not quite a fairy godmother, but close.
Kumiko takes the credit card as a sign and leaves the emotional coldness and cramped quarters of Tokyo, for the wide open spaces and bitter cold of a Minnesota winter.
Despite her obsession with the movie, the only planning Kumiko makes in her flight to the States is to set her best friend, a bunny, free.
Like any fairy tale, Kumiko meets up with different helpers along the road. Some offer guidance that’s more spiritual, others more practical. One even tells her that the Mall of America is much more fun.
This is a quiet slow paced film, based on a 2001 internet urban legend about a Japanese woman who flies to the US to hunt for the Fargo money. That was the inspiration for brothers David & Neil Zellner. They are co-writers to the film. It’s directed by David Zellner, and Rinko Kikuchi acts as an executive producer. Both the brothers also have roles in the film.
Despite a lack of a trailer, this film has buzz based on its five awards including at Fantasia Film Festival, Las Palmas Film Fest, Little Rock Film Festival, and the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. The direction is lyrical and often Kumiko is the only colour, of life, on the screen.
Each stage gets Kumiko further and further from civilization.
For fans of Fargo, there are not so subtle nods to the source material, including the Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statue. But this is not a retelling of that story, this is a tale of wanting to live your life by your terms. Of persevering in the face of all obstacles. Of knowing when to accept help, and when to rely on yourself.
It is a fairy tale of Kumiko, who faced down society’s monsters and did important things by hunting for a treasure in a strange frozen land called Fargo.
