File under "Lost in Translation." Or maybe just "lost." Antisocial, aging Tokyo office lady Kumiko (29 and not even dating!) lives alone with her bunny Bunzo and her newly found VHS copy of the Coen Brothers' Fargo, a film that famously starts with the claim, "This is a true story" and features a suitcase full of cash that gets buried in the snow. (Until it gets eaten by her VCR, necessitating the purchase of a DVD player and a DVD of Fargo.) Kumiko's interest in and grip on reality are tenuous, so it's not really surprising that she fixates on actually recovering the treasure she saw on the TV screen. A great film for people who are tired of associating the color black with sadness and despair: now, both of those things are available in snowy white! You'll have plenty of time to admire co-writer and director David Zellner's careful framing during Kumiko's desperate trudge toward the inevitable. And if you can look past the lead's uberquirky/borderline personality, you may come to savor the film's bitterness toward both the awful mundane world and the transcendent, unshakable faith that seeks to overcome it. (2014) — Matthew Lickona
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