Mein geheimer Garten (1997)

Mein geheimer Garten: Directed by Shinobu Yaguchi. With Hikaru Ijûin, Taketoshi Naitô, Naomi Nishida, Gô Rijû. Sakiko, a young bank teller, has an unhealthy obsession with money. Thieves hold up the bank, kidnapping Sakiko in the process, but eventually crash their car, cash falling into a nearby river. Sakiko begins a quest to retrieve the money.

“B-grade Japanese movies of recent years have been influenced quite a bit by manga (Japanese comics) and anime (animation), but I hadnu0026#39;t yet seen a Japanese movie that is, in effect, a live-action manga from beginning to end. Himitsu no Hanazono is one such movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe manga aspects mean that everything is over-the-top. Sakikou0026#39;s single-minded obsession with money, her outlandish and relentless efforts in search of a lost suitcase full of bills, leaving flabbergasted observers in her wake–all are straight out of manga, and retain the light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek humor of that medium (the better manga, anyways). And there is a kind of gradual maturation process thrown in as well, as Sakiko comes to realize that sheu0026#39;s not drawn to money itself, so much as to the hunt for it. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNot great cinema by any stretch, but this is one of the best Japanese light comedies Iu0026#39;ve seen, and Iu0026#39;ve seen a few. Definitely worth a viewing if you like manga/anime or movies in this genre.”