While much of the current Sundance-related discussion has to do with the recently unveiled 2015 line-up, next year will see the release of a few notable titles from 2014’s edition. Early in the year, the Zellner brothers’ drama Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter will bow, and the first trailer has landed today. Inspired by the true story (with largely unsubstantiated details) of a Japanese women who ventured to North Dakota in 2001, Dave Zellner tells Yahoo, “It was so strange and serious and to have such limited information. And the idea of someone going on a treasure hunt, it was so antiquated in modern-day society.”
We said in our review, “The Zellner brothers are Sundance darlings, having had several short films and their last two features appear at the festival. This year they are back with Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, their first entry in the official dramatic competition and a film that continues the tradition of their off-kilter brand of dark humor. Featuring a solid performance by Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific Rim, Babel) as the titular Kumiko, the film is a melancholy parable about mental illness. However, there is an uncanny amount of dissonance in this frigid fairy tale about a Japanese woman’s unhealthy obsession with the movie Fargo. Similar in tone to their deadpan Kid-Thing, Kumiko’s journey is oddly paced, aimless in direction and ends up leaving one’s mind in a state of doldrums.”
Check out the trailer below, which thankfully doesn’t reveal much, yet provides enticing visuals:
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter opens on March 13th, 2015.