Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

Amplify | Release Date: March 18, 2015

6.9	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Ratings

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zaghaftSep 15, 2015

This film is a beautiful portrait of humanity in our time through a woman with either destructive naivety or serious mental illness. It will likely either trigger empathy and thought within you or bore you to tears- depending on whether orThis film is a beautiful portrait of humanity in our time through a woman with either destructive naivety or serious mental illness. It will likely either trigger empathy and thought within you or bore you to tears- depending on whether or not you are willing to accept its message. Visually astounding, and profound.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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lasttimeisawJul 27, 2015

This indie feature opens with a blurred VHS tape showing - the film is based on a true story, which actually is from Coen brothers’ FARGO (1996, 9/10), has its implicit double meaning, because the film itself is a reinterpretation of aThis indie feature opens with a blurred VHS tape showing - the film is based on a true story, which actually is from Coen brothers’ FARGO (1996, 9/10), has its implicit double meaning, because the film itself is a reinterpretation of a real-life event about our centre character Kumiko (Kikuchi), a 29-year-old office lady in Tokyo, who is hooked by FARGO’s scenes where a briefcase of cash is stashed in the snow land by Steve Buscemi’s Carl Showalter, firmly believes it is her destiny to retrieve the money and embarks on a journey to USA.

keep reading my review on my blog, please google: cinema omnivore, thanks!… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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Brent_MarchantMar 30, 2015

A delightfully whimsical comedy-drama about having faith in one's dreams, no matter how off the map they might be. Exquisitely dry humor and Rinko Kikuchi's charming, deadpan, oddball performance make for one of the more esoterically funnyA delightfully whimsical comedy-drama about having faith in one's dreams, no matter how off the map they might be. Exquisitely dry humor and Rinko Kikuchi's charming, deadpan, oddball performance make for one of the more esoterically funny films to have been released in quite some time. This one won't appeal to everyone, but those with an off-the-wall sense of humor will surely appreciate this one.… Expand

3 of 5 users found this helpful32

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namelessApr 4, 2015

This is a great 30 minutes ART film. Can't relate to the main character, it is excrutiating. The premise has little to do with the movie. Don't be taken in by the critics. Yes, this is definitely different, but so it getting my foot run over.

4 of 11 users found this helpful47

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DirkVApr 4, 2015

Oy. this was painful to sit through. There was no reason to root for or care about the mentally ill lead character. The continuity issues were copious and distracting. It was beautiful to look at, but not engaging at all.

2 of 7 users found this helpful25

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beingryanjudeMay 2, 2015

Much like Kumiko's character, this treasure hunt will likely leave you feeling empty and hoping for a better world. It's overtly artsy atmosphere shrouds a superb lead performance from Rinko Kikuchi.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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RabidCinefanJun 13, 2015

Sadly, at the end of the day this offering is an enervating, protracted account of the desperate defenses of one human against the abysmal reality of life in an uncommonly rigid culture. Neo Coen, not Coen.

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

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DirigiblePulpMar 17, 2016

There's clearly something very wrong with Kumiko. She either has some kind of personality disorder or she's so singularly minded after a lifetime of being in the proverbial back, that she has willingly become so; a kind of conscious daftness.There's clearly something very wrong with Kumiko. She either has some kind of personality disorder or she's so singularly minded after a lifetime of being in the proverbial back, that she has willingly become so; a kind of conscious daftness.

Her journey is based on so much faith, and so fundamentally flawed, it works on a basic primal level; it's nearly impossible to find fault with it because it's so obviously bonkers. It's also all a dream. And as such, I'm not sure what this film is actually about. Devotion, perseverance in the face of adversity, being isolated and not wrong. I don't know. Anything applies but also not really.

You empathize with her, sympathize with her plight, but also want to give her a swift kick to the ass to wake her up.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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LeZeeMar 4, 2016

An innocent girl's desperate adventure.

The rumours always adds lots interesting stuffs than the actual news. Sometime we feel that should have been real, because of the sunning depth that even a real story can't match. That's why theAn innocent girl's desperate adventure.

The rumours always adds lots interesting stuffs than the actual news. Sometime we feel that should have been real, because of the sunning depth that even a real story can't match. That's why the false information spreads like a virus on the social media. This movie character was inspired by a real young woman from Japan, but not the real event. An urban legend surround her visit to Minnesota, United States, back in the 2001.

I have seen many films of different versions of the same events or the persons, but I never heard of this one before. So after the watch I did a little research on the original and I thought this film looked much better than that, especially for the movie it supplied a fine story material. Still a very much predictable, but for an entertainment purpose, it did decently.

It was a beautiful adventure-drama. The main character is just like the one from 'Citizen Dog' or 'Amelie'. Kumiko is an innocent and a solitude woman in the twilight of her 20s. Her life is not so good, with having no friends or a boyfriend, pressure from her mother and at work, she decides to chase an unexpected dream after learning about the treasure from the tape she finds in a seaside. That leads her to travel halfway across the world to an unfamiliar territory and what follows is her desperate drive to achieve the undertaking.

"I discover treasure. Right here. It's mine."

The end was heartbreaking, only if you understood it clearly. Though I'm not going to reveal anything about that part as it might spoil if you have not it yet. But there's no declaration in the opening or before the end credits about whether it was a real or what actually happened in the end. Lots of scenes make no sense, and gives the impression of the girl is so dumb. Also leaves many unanswered questions behind which is the negative side of the narration. That's what you get in an urban myth, a collective tale and each slice of it is someone's creation/prediction based on the original evidence that is not understood properly.

The story might be Americas, but due to the Japanese lead character, the entire film was in Japanese with English subtitle and very often some English line with the American characters. Besides, it looks more a Japanese film than the Hollywood's. The 'Pacific Rim' star Rinko Kikuchi was outstanding in the title role. The direction was good, the director also appeared in a small role as a cop. In fact, that was a big one for this movie where a small role can impact on the high level.

Even a ten year old can differentiate what is real and what's not from a movie he watches in this world. Whatever the girl from the movie believed in is simply a fictional account and an entertainment for us, so don't expect it to be an uplifting movie. As I said it was based on a speculation of some real incident, but a well made movie except not detailing everything they have shown. It got a mixed response with mostly positive feedbacks, but my take on it is definitely good. And finally, this movie is not for everyone, if you decide to watch, try not to analyse it deeply.

8/10… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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inaneswineNov 14, 2017

Kumiko requires a lot of post-film reflection, as one tries to figure out what the point of it all really was. On the whole, it seems to be a story about a confused, naive and depressed young woman on the search for a better life, or at leastKumiko requires a lot of post-film reflection, as one tries to figure out what the point of it all really was. On the whole, it seems to be a story about a confused, naive and depressed young woman on the search for a better life, or at least something different.

The slow opening of the film set in Tokyo does run on a little long, but once Kumiko arrives in America, we're treated to a lovely host of well-rounded characters that our titular character meets along her harsh journey through the freezing roads of Minnesota, beautiful imagery and an alluring performance from Kikuchi, not to mention the film's spot-on, deadpan comic timing.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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DawdlingPoetApr 10, 2022

This film has quite some charm to it. Its quirky, sweet and somewhat mysterious, with good cinematography. I liked the shots of the titular character seemingly on her own in a large wilderness in the US. I felt sorry for her and wondered whatThis film has quite some charm to it. Its quirky, sweet and somewhat mysterious, with good cinematography. I liked the shots of the titular character seemingly on her own in a large wilderness in the US. I felt sorry for her and wondered what the full story was - quite why she believed the treasure from the film Fargo would be found in the same place in the US (I have seen the film Fargo but some time ago). I can't say I understood the whole plot as such but I really enjoyed the film for its sense of mystery, the childish innocence and naivety of the titular character and I liked the incidental music played towards the end. I thought the subtitles were lacking a bit at the start, with it seeming there was more dialogue than subtitles provided - it seemed as if I could only read some of the dialogue but still, I very much enjoyed the film overall. The ending may frustrate some people but then it may delight eithers - its hard to say and I don't want to provide spoilers, so I'll just say that I enjoyed it and I'd recommend it if you'd like to watch something a bit different and your ok with subtitles.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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