DVD Review: Answering the call of ‘Fargo’

Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi, who was Oscar-nominated for her role in “Babel”) plays a 29-year-old Tokyo office worker with no life to speak of. Her job is demeaning, and she has no close friends (except her bunny rabbit). Her future is a void.

So perhaps it’s not totally insane that, after finding a VHS copy of the Coen Brothers’ “Fargo” under a rock in a cave, she becomes convinced that the film is more or less a documentary and that the suitcase full of money that Steve Buscemi buries near the end is still there, just waiting for an enterprising 29-year-old Japanese girl to claim it.

With no real planning, she drops everything and flies to America, where — speaking almost no English outside of “How get to Fargo?” — she doggedly pursues her quest. The people she encounters project their own instincts onto her, as she fumbles her way toward her goal.

The Zellner brothers, David and Nathan — who, like the Coens, are credited separately or together for writing, directing, and producing — give “Kumiko” a deadpan comic tone in the manner of Jim Jarmusch and Aki Kaurismaki, with tragedy always lurking just a little ahead.

The Blu-ray release looks fine, with the beauty of the desolate Minnesota landscapes as absorbing as they were on the big screen. The commentary track, with the Zellners and producer Chris Ohlson, is low-key and informative without being revelatory. (All three voices are similar, which muddles things.) There are also three alternate scenes — one actually three or four takes jammed together — of about two minutes each.

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (Anchor Bay, Blu-ray, $34.99)

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ANDY KLEIN is the film critic for Marquee. He can also be heard on “FilmWeek” on KPCC-FM (89.3).