Review of Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014) by Brandon W — 20 Dec 2015

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter is a film directed by David Zellner that was about a main girl name Kumiko who found a videotape that was a film which she thought was a true story, and does whatever it takes to go to that place because the money was hidden under the snow in the film from the film.

Now it was based on the urban myth that has the same story, but a different name. In reality though, the real girl name Takako Konishi did wanted to go there, but it was only because she wanted to go look for her lover, but then she killed herself after going so far.

Even if the urban myth is different from the actual facts, it still has a nice story to tell and Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter took good advantage of it. Rinko Kikuchi is fantastic in this and really acts like a character who is depressed of her job, and is starting to lose the things that she loves when she kept going on her journey.

The movie does a great job of developing a character who grows obsessive of a film, but you still feel sorry for what she has to go through, even if the things she does are bad. The pacing is slow-burning, but it got me so interested that it made me feel like I was in the journey with Kumiko herself.

The score by The Octopus Project is very good and soothing to watch that it gets you relaxed for the film. We can understand definitely about why the main character wants to go on a treasure hunt and we would root for her to do it, even though that it was all because she watched a movie that got her convinced that it was a true story.

The movie has a good dry sense of humor and a well-written script by the Zellner Brothers. With a fascinated main character and an interesting story, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter is a fantastic little film that more people should see this as a curiosity.