REviews
Healing
market
Reviewed by Frank Hatherley
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter Reviewed by Mark Adams A delightfully mannered and eccentric delight, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter is a cult film in the making, with Rinko Kikuchi (Norwegian Wood) striking as the oddball Kumiko, whose quest for ‘treasure’ takes her from Tokyo to snowy Minnesota. The film will delight lovers of filmic quirks, but perhaps will bemuse those expecting a more traditional treasure-hunt movie. The third film from brothers David and Nathan Zellner (Goliath, Kid-Thing), could easily sell well to indie distribs with an attitude, especially given Kikuchi’s growing stature. In the opening scenes Kumiko follows a treasure map to a cave overlooking a beach, where she unearths an old VHS tape, which we soon discover is a copy of the Coen brothers’ 1996 film Fargo. She watches and rewatches the scene in which Steve Buscemi buries a briefcase full of cash deep in snow next to a fence, making notes and equations to work out where the actual spot might be. Unhappy at work and browbeaten by her mother, who complains that she isn’t married yet, Kumiko continues her research into the whereabouts of the case and plans a trip to the US. This means — in perhaps the most delightful and sad moment of the film — she has to abandon her beloved rabbit Bunzo. And so, midway through the film she arrives in the US, speaking minimal English and through the kindness of equally oddball strangers slowly makes her way to Fargo. The film spirals towards a surreally happy ending that might have been just an oddball step too far if it were not for the fact Kikuchi’s warm-hearted oddball charm is so winning, the concept so quirky and the delivery so proficient. It is a strange, but rather wonderful film.
forum US. 2014. 105mins Director David Zellner Production company Lila 9th Productions International sales Kathy Morgan International, kathy@kmifilms.com Producers Nathan Zellner, Cameron Lamb, Chris Ohlson, Andrew Banks, Jim Burke Executive producers Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, Rinko Kikuchi Screenplay David Zellner, Nathan Zellner Cinematography Sean Porter Editor Melba Jodorowsky Production designers Kikuo Ota, Chad Keith Music The Octopus Project Main cast Rinko Kikuchi, David Zellner, Nobuyuki Katsube, Shirley Venard, Nathan Zellner
Three wounded creatures need healing in this attractive Australian feature — a broken-winged eagle; the reluctant prisoner given responsibility for its rehabilitation; and the officer in charge of the raptor programme. Though the three outcomes are hardly in doubt, the heartfelt tale is told with plenty of soaring nature shots around Victoria’s photogenic Macedon Ranges. Academy award-winning cinematographer Andrew Lesnie (The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit films) adds much visual panache to the otherwise plain narrative. There are market screenings here in Berlin this week, and a local release is due in April. This is director/co-producer/co-writer Monahan’s third feature with actor Hugo Weaving; their 1998 collaboration The Interview won the Australian Film Institute’s best picture award. There is a brooding masculinity and a constant threat violence about the low-security inland prison farm community in which Healing is based. Iranian-Australian Viktor (Hany) is in the final 18 months of a 16-year sentence, having committed a drunken crime for which he has no excuses, only self-loathing. Deliberately aloof, he antagonises his fellow inmates (“He may have been a hard man once,” says one, “he’s just an old man now”) and he seems a hopeless case until officer Matt (Weaving), himself unable to recover from a family blow, initiates a programme to assist the nearby bird sanctuary. This introduces Viktor to various falcons, owls and Yasmine, a magnificent wedge-tailed eagle. Performances are strong. Tough and wounded, both Weaving and Hany hold our attention throughout. Also fine are Viktor’s two young assigned helpers — the brooding Xavier Samuel and the twitchy, darting-eyed Mark Leonard Winter.
Aus. 2014. 119mins Director Craig Monahan Production company Pointblank Pictures International sales Lightning Entertainment, www.lightning entertainmentgroup.com Producers Tait Brady, Craig Monahan Executive producer Richard S Guardian Screenplay Craig Monahan, Alison Nisselle Cinematography Andrew Lesnie Editor Suresh Ayyar Production designer Les Binns Music David Hirschfelder Main cast Hugo Weaving, Don Hany, Xavier Samuel, Mark Leonard Winter, Jane Menelaus, Justine Clarke, Robert Taylor, Anthony Hayes, Dimitri Baveas, Tony Martin
WILDSIDE AND RAI CINEMA PRESENT
Pierfrancesco Diliberto makes a terrific debut (Variety)
THE MAFIA KILLS ONLY IN SUMMER LA MAFIA UCCIDE SOLO D’ESTATE
Impressive directorial debut (The Hollywood Reporter)
CATIA ROSSI Mobile +39 335 6049456 catia.rossi@rai.it
n 20 Screen International at Berlin February 9, 2014
Market Screening: February 7th - 7.15 pm - CinemaxX 2 February 10th - 9.30 am - CineStar 6
Credits not contractual
A film by Pif