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Kumiko The Treasure Hunter is a movie I saw today that I would recommend to just about anyone. Set in present-day Japan it is about a hikiomori a young office lady that is inspired to go to Fargo to search for Carl Showalter. If the premise of her thinking that Fargo is a real movie and books a flight to America isn't about a descent into madness, sorry if that's a spoiler. But why would she do that, what starts the ball rolling? Her life is disappointing to her for numerous reasons: boss is a jerk, her coworkers mock her, lame job, and the few friends in her life have their poo poo together. When she's home she lives in a dumpy apartment cluttered with junk, spending all the time watching movies, dreading a call from her mother that picks apart how she hasn't lived up to her potential or gotten married yet. She does have her little Bunzo the bunny rabbit, which she loves (yeah, you know where that's going to result it, but they do it in a tasteful way). One movie leads her to believe she can find the location of the money through hidden messages only she can figure out, so she watches it repeatedly while taking notes and preparing. The tale has been told before but doesn't have an eye-rolling ending and plays with tropes like love conquers all. It's what makes the title poignant, this likable, troubled woman is on a quest for her pot of gold. This film is very well made in every regard. I was going to go through it by the numbers but probably couldn't without spoilers. The soundtrack is this perfect blend of suspense when needed or conveying the personality of what she feels, it kind of slides in slowly from the margins of your hearing like it knows you don't want your immersion disturbed. If I could describe the tone of it I would call it rustic elegance, with a timidity to it just like Kumiko. Beautiful filming and nature scenes that, again, don't want to remind you it's a movie. Same thing with a blend where an object, for a split second, will appear to be one thing but turn out to another. I have no idea how that was blended in so seamlessly, rather than looking like something produced by a movie camera, it's like you're in her head, seeing what she sees. Even the scary songs creep in slow and perfectly reflect the apprehensive noise in her head. The actress Rinko Kikuchi plays perfectly, with her slouching posture, pensive looks, and using her voice to sound small without over-doing it. She carries the movie perfectly, moments where it's uncertain of what someone will do or why they did it hang in the air as naturally as a cloud. This is a shining example of the Hitchcock mantra, "I try to make movies where they don't have to read the subtitles in Japan." Even when I wasn't reading the subtitles I knew exactly what was happening in the story. There is quite a bit of both critique and contrast of American and Japanese culture. Americans are fat slobs that smoke, don't understand concepts like culture or the existence of non-Americans. One character is so unable to accept that a Japanese woman doesn't also speak Chinese is so baffling to him it takes him ten minutes of conversation for him to accept it. She is a woman traveling alone, we're constantly expecting creepy people she meets to take advantage of her. This is also done gracefully, especially a wide shot of an airport that includes a kid on a leash. I wasn't paying attention during this particular scene, but there's a creepy group that tries to take her in, they gave off a Scientology vibe. Japan gets it rough, too: mom badgering her and insensitive, creepy boss, and demanding friends. I was fortunate to have a Japanese person help me with cultural expectations I didn't know about. Squat toilets are a horror element in Japan which I did not know of until the second Silent Hill game, there's a particular moment in the movie whose dark subtext I wouldn't have noticed had she not told me about it. So, what is there to say, watch this movie! Go now, go watch it if you can access a copy, which may be tough because, like Under The Skin, this movie has two release dates and one is this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDK9jdtwdTo Lil' sampler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK5SJncXf0I Full OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5VwHmhDSgw Post 9-11 User fucked around with this message at 18:23 on Jul 13, 2015 |
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Jul 13, 2015 05:23
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 18:44 |
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I expected it to be a horror, too! I jumped into the movie knowing nothing about it. Someone asked, "is this a horror, is she going to start killing people?" "Well, she just made a 'playful' stabbing motion onto her friends stomach, so that seems to be the implication." It doesn't jam the criticism in your face, either the kid on the leash was just part of the scene. Most viewers wouldn't recognize it as critique because there's no kitchy use of holding the camera on the kid and playing ominous music. And several times she falls in with people with think are going to hurt her, the dread builds then it turns out someone is genuinely nice or just indifferent to her. There's such a sincere innocence to the film that is endearing. Bunzo is treated as just another actor in the credits:   
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Jul 13, 2015 18:17
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That's an apt way of saying it, everyone needs to deal with other people, she hides from them whenever possible so she just flees from every person that tries to help her. The dog stealing some things from her seemed to me like one more escalation in her mind crumbling and how she's in a situation where even nature is out to get her (she loves her Bunzo, the dog isn't so nice, another creature lost in the wilderness like herself). She loses her family, the credit card, her stuff. She is "lost" in every way, lost in her madness as well as the world, slowly losing the ability to reason, to navigate, and so on. I wondered how she was able to have an apartment at all, then it shows her in an office which she barely functions in. I'll check out that documentary right now. I would have liked more information and investigation, but what can ya do. It seemed that he said she did have a map of Fargo, but left it behind. Tastefully done, given the subject matter. Post 9-11 User fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Jul 14, 2015 |
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Jul 13, 2015 20:17
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That's a great point: there's a hesitancy over whether she seems different because she's from a different culture or if she's lost her marbles. As clumsy as Americans may be about interacting with foreign visitors, we're also overly paranoid about offending people. I'm not going to bite anyone's head off for greeting me with the cheek kiss or a bow instead of a handshake. There's a justifiable reason for all of her reactions, another thing that makes this film great. Her friend looks great in every way: her hair, her clothes, her posture, her enjoyment of life, she's just so overwhelmed by this contrast in her own life that she's too embarrassed to accepted help.
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Jul 15, 2015 18:49
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I'm in the middle: I think Kumiko's perceptions amplified things, but the depictions weren't exaggerated in a cruel way. I feel like the rural people's ignorance was amplified through Kumiko's eyes, her understandable paranoia making everyone seem cruel, though in the end just about everyone is vindicated. I didn't think the Sheriff came off as an imbecile, just a simple, kind person, but I'll take your word for it. That's great to get a Nebraskan's perspective, I haven't been through those parts.
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Jul 16, 2015 16:01
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 18:44 |
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Kangra posted:Given the description, though, I have the question: Does the film show any awareness of the actual events, even if it's nothing more than a hint or acknowledgement? Answers with spoilers are fine. For me, it never crossed the line into presenting the story as a cautionary tale or, "this movie is based on true events" territory. It never felt exploitative or disingenuous like, say, Megan Is Missing, any Lifetime Original movie or the dozens of hauntings/possession movies. The connection to the true story are very loose and that's fine with me, just like the character mistook the intro to Fargo to mean that it was a factual story it's up to us to realize that this isn't real. Those are two reasons why the featurette linked above, "This Is A True Story," got its name. Edit: Wait, what? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azz9raDRY10 Post 9-11 User fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Aug 2, 2015 |
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Aug 2, 2015 15:42
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