Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014)

November 13, 2014 (US) • Drama • 104m

Overview

Frustrated with her mundane life, a Tokyo office worker becomes obsessed with a fictional movie that she mistakes for a documentary. Fixating on a scene where stolen cash is buried in North Dakota, she travels to America to find it.

Director

David Zellner

Writers

David Zellner, Nathan Zellner

Top Billed

Rinko Kikuchi

Keywords

japan language barrier treasure hunt north dakota rabbit tragic

Where to watch

Rent

Buy

Top Billed Cast

Rinko Kikuchi

Kumiko

Nobuyuki Katsube

Sakagami

Kanako Higashi

Michi

Ichi Kyokaku

Library Security Guard

Ayaka Onishi

Chieko

Mayuko Kawakita

Ms. Kanazaki

Asami Tano

Office Lady

Ako Yoshida

Office Lady

Anna Wakamori

Office Lady

Risa Hotta

Office Lady

Hitomi Sawano

Office Lady

Maki Issô

Office Lady

Ariei Umefune

Office Lady

Takao Kinoshita

Dry Cleaning Clerk

Shirley Venard

Older Woman

David Zellner

Policeman

Nathan Zellner

Robert

Yumiko Hioki

Kumiko's Mother

Tetsuya Hayakawa

Dancing Couple

Mihoka Tomoda

Dancing Couple

Yusei Fujii

Mayo (Michi's Child)

Natsuki Kanno

Department Store Clerk

Brad Prather

Brad

Earl Milton

Bus Driver

Madde Gibba

Gift Shop Clerk

Ravi Jasthi

Motel Clerk

Lucy Luu

Chinese Restaurant Owner

Kirsten Gregerson

Airport Passenger (uncredited)

Joel Thingvall

Airline Passenger (uncredited)

Crew

David Zellner

Director

Sean Porter

Director of Photography

Melba Jodorowsky

Editor

Chad Keith

Production Design

Kikuo Ohta

Production Design

Michelle Gilstead

Art Direction

Andrew Banks

Producer

Jim Burke

Producer

Cameron Lamb

Producer

Chris Ohlson

Producer

Nathan Zellner

Producer

Rinko Kikuchi

Executive Producer

Raymond Mansfield

Executive Producer

Alexander Payne

Executive Producer

Shaun Redick

Executive Producer

Jim Taylor

Executive Producer

Deidre Backs

Associate Producer

Christopher Shand

Associate Producer

Georgina Pope

Line Producer

Lars Knudsen

Thanks

Yvonne Lambert

Original Music Composer

Toto Miranda

Original Music Composer

Josh Lambert

Original Music Composer

David Zellner

Screenplay

Nathan Zellner

Screenplay

Alex Bickel

Digital Intermediate Colorist

Jenna Gabriel

Digital Intermediate Producer

Michael Howell

Color Assistant

Britni West

Set Decoration

Tony Crosbie

Costume Design

Kiersten Hargroder

Costume Design

Mary Flaa

Key Makeup Artist

Carrie Messina

Key Hair Stylist

Todd Cobery

Production Manager

Andrew Hauser

Post Production Supervisor

Masa Kokubo

Production Manager

Matt Center

Second Assistant Director

Tomas Deckaj

First Assistant Director

Amber Goerish

Second Assistant Director

Takashi Sekiya

Second Assistant Director

Yuichi Tazawa

First Assistant Director

Matt Joyer

Set Dresser

Elizabeth Richardson

Production Assistant

Chris Thickins

Property Master

Mark Filip

Foley Editor

Ryotaro Harada

Production Sound Mixer

René Jones-Jones

Sound Designer

Cory Melious

Dialogue Editor

Cory Melious

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Cory Melious

Supervising Sound Editor

Jim Morgan

Sound Recordist

Matt Snedecor

Foley Artist

David Thompson

Boom Operator

Nick Smith

Visual Effects

Catscan Smothers

Visual Effects

Nathan Armstrong

First Assistant Camera

Justin Cameron

First Assistant Camera

Kris Drake

Still Photographer

Jesse Evans

Steadicam Operator

Jeff Fischer

Best Boy Electric

Chris Hadland

Second Assistant Camera

Bruce Henderson

Key Grip

Nick Hillyard

Electrician

Gen Ito

Second Assistant Camera

Taro Kimura

Steadicam Operator

Ivan Kovač

Digital Imaging Technician

Yasushi Miyata

First Assistant Camera

Matt Muegge

Grip

Michael Winn

Gaffer

Kati Batchelder

Extras Casting

Lynn Blumenthal

Casting Director

Sadami Hwang

Casting Director

Christian Popham

Extras Casting Assistant

Mitsutoshi Hamazaki

Location Manager

Anne Healy

Location Manager

Kai Miller

Assistant Location Manager

Dominique Preyer

Music Supervisor

Kazuko Shingyoku

Script Supervisor

Reviews

Reno

⭐ 8/10

March 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 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

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Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Hacksaw Ridge

The Last Samurai

Bullet Train

Status

Released

Original Language

Budget

—

Revenue

$739,623

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Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014)

David Zellner, Nathan Zellner

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

Reno

Recommended Movies

Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Hacksaw Ridge

The Last Samurai

Bullet Train

Status

Original Language

Budget

Revenue

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