“Treasure” Review
Lena Dunham (Left) and Stephen Fry play a daughter and father who reconnect on a trip to Poland while dealing with generational trauma centered on The Holocaust in “Treasure”.
Nearly 80 years after the Nazi concentration camps were liberated, cinema continues to explore the atrocities of The Holocaust as it should. One of the most powerful cinematic experiences that I’ve had in recent years came from watching the Oscar-winning drama “The Zone of Interest” in a theater where I almost had an emotional breakdown due to the disturbing nature of the film and its impeccable sound design. However, I’m also interested in films that explore The Holocaust from a more modern perspective. As good as a film like “Schindler’s List” is, there’s something startling about watching a film like the 1956 documentary “Night and Fog” which shows contemporary color footage of the ruins of concentration camps like Auschwitz. This is where a film like “Treasure” interests me. The film seeks to not only address the scars of this time on the survivors but also how people who never even saw a concentration camp can still be profoundly affected by the legacy of The Holocaust. While I don’t think the film fully lived up to its potential, “Treasure” has some truly powerful performances and scenes that showcase excellent drama.
Set in the early 90s, Ruth Rothwax (Lena Dunham) is a journalist who seeks her family roots by traveling to Poland. Accompanying Ruth is her father Edek (Stephen Fry) who fears for his daughter’s safety, an understandable concern since Edek, along with his late wife, survived the Auschwitz concentration camp. With the pair in Edek’s homeland, they visit numerous places that were important to Edek while reliving the generational trauma that has been inflicted upon the family.
Immediately I was interested in the film because of the dynamic that Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry presented. Their performances feel so genuine because both of them have issues in their past that you can tell need to be said out loud. The problem is that both of them want the other to address their own problems first so you’re left with a game of chicken as Ruth and Edek struggle to hold back their emotions. Ruth prefers to hide her feelings by keeping a serious demeanor while her father is the life of the party who befriends total strangers and is telling jokes for anyone who will listen. Both Dunham and Fry are excellent with Fry in particular giving it his all.
While the initial set up is promising, I felt that the execution from director and cowriter Julia von Heinz left something to be desired. The film takes a while to gain momentum and, despite there being urgency in Ruth’s character, we as the audience are just sitting there waiting for the inevitable confrontation that will explode in the third act. There are too many times where Ruth will want to visit someplace and Edek will say “no” for unclear reasons that you know are tied into his past as a Jew struggling for survival in the Nazi death machine. These kinds of scenes need to feel fresh in order to justify their repetition.
However, the film ultimately left me relatively satisfied thanks to its third act which is impressively acted, directed and written and even got me teary-eyed. While I don't think that the film needed to be nearly two hours long (not without another look at the first half of the script), the way “Treasure” ends takes what was a serviceable film and does leave you emotionally affected. As is, “Treasure” is admirable in what it's attempting to do and the result is impressive enough to warrant a viewing, especially if you want Stephen Fry and Lena Dunham to warm your heart.
