Ruth, an American journalist, takes her father Edek, a Holocaust survivor, back to Poland to revisit his childhood. Fearing his past trauma, Edek deliberately creates obstacles to sabotage the trip.
Review: ‘Treasure’ is well-meaning but suffers from a sluggish pace, a muddled plot, and weak chemistry between its lead actors, draining much of its enjoyment. The film explores intergenerational themes and the emotional shields people build to protect themselves. Set against a serious backdrop—the Holocaust—it features forced dialogues and spends too much time explaining the context and the outcome is a disappointing drama.
Based on a true story, ‘Treasure’ follows Ruth (Lena Dunham), a recently divorced American journalist who brings her eccentric father Edek (Stephen Fry), who is a survivor of holocaust to Poland. What Ruth wants is for her father to have fond memories of the place he was raised in and also get acquainted with her roots better. During their hotel stay they are always at each other’s throats over every tiny matter but finally they come to know each other deeper. However inappropriate behaviour of this nature by Edek is meant as sabotage on this journey. Ancestral home of Ruth should find room in their schedule since she would love revisiting it even though apparently not knowing where that will lead them.
The film suffers from predictability with most scenes leading to foreseeable outcomes during the father-daughter confrontations. While Director Julia von Heinz’s intentions are clear however her vision does not go hand in hand with what she has scripted together with her husband. The link between these two doesn’t seem well formed. For instance Lena Dunham or Stephan Fry are great actors but playing such characters makes them uneasy.
The film has few moments that really stand out but they are rare indeed. The visit to Auschwitz where Edek was detained remains by far one of the most memorable parts; another moving experience is when the poor family who now lives there, still uses Edek’s family’s fine china silver bowl. It could be seen that individually Stephen fry and Lena dunham did well but together the scene they created was very dry. The point of creating comedy in this subject is beyond me. This ultimately affects the film’s overall impact as it attempted to combine a Holocaust theme, a road trip, and reconciliation into one story.
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