Kumiko
is strange and whimsical fare that delights, puzzles, and tears at your
heart. Kumiko is a young Japanese
woman who is socially withdrawn, barely making it at her job as office
assistant, and spends a good deal of her time with her animals in a kind of
fantasy land. The boundaries
between reality and fantasy can get blurred for her, especially if she has a
strong desire for something. She
is both child and woman.
The American film by the Coen brothers, Fargo, has caught her fancy, and she
becomes convinced that if she could just get to Fargo, North Dakota, she could
find the case full of money that was buried in the snow by a criminal. Through underhanded means, she does
indeed get to Minnesota, and instead of staying on a stalled bus some hundred
miles from Fargo, she decides to walk out into the snowy weather and head there
on foot. She is picked up a couple
of times, but when she finds the other person is not going to take her to
Fargo, she bolts.
Kumiko does reveal her plan to the second
stranger, a policeman, who is generously buying her a warmer jacket and
boots. He also gets lunch for her,
and she tells him about her plan.
Of course, he tries to help her distinguish between reality and movie
fantasy, but as before, when someone questions her delusion, this time she
quickly runs out and gets in a taxi.
She has encountered money problems and other
difficulties along the way—and this taxi driver will get stiffed. One of her problems, which was
occurring before she left Tokyo, was with her mother’s phone calls. It is probably not by coincidence that
each time, just before she runs, she has had a conversation with her mom whose
only interest seems to be for her to get married and have children. When she evades the subject, her mother
quickly becomes abusive, telling her how worthless she is.
The story of Kumiko is engaging and fascinating
in the way many art films are that move at a thoughtful pace, usually relate to
mythological themes, and artistically express the visual and aural
elements. I see Kumiko as going on
the hero’s journey (Joseph Campbell)—usually undertaken by a male—in which he
encounters many trials, and ultimately returns as a changed man who bestows
boon on others. This story ends
much more ambiguously, and we never learn whether Kumiko served that final
function or not.
The brothers David and Nathan Zellner co-wrote
and David directed this feature film that has a colorful, interesting and
delightful tone to it, despite the trials Kumiko undergoes.
Much of the strength and appeal of the
film comes from the star, Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific
Rim, The Brothers Bloom) who was nominated by numerous organizations for
her role in Babel. Sean Porter’s photography is
outstanding, as, for example, in the beginning scene with the ocean, greenery,
and a red-hooded figure walking along the beach, then later when Kumiko is in
Minnesota walking in huge expanses of snow. The music by The Octapus Project is modern, with dissonant
chords and harsh sounds, which may not please everyone’s ears, but it’s
effective in what it is meant to convey.
An entertaining journey that will
surprise and delight.
Grade: B By
Donna R. Copeland
No comments:
Post a Comment