Treasure

Desperate to connect with her family’s roots, New York journalist Ruth Rothwax (Lena Dunham) decides to travel to Poland at the end of the Cold War. Despite his painful memories of the Holocaust, her father Edek (Stephen Fry) joins her, but his particular peculiarities end up overcomplicating her meticulously planned trip.

The feature is an adaptation of Lily Brett’s novel Too Many Men, which was inspired by a true story, as both opening and closing titles suggest.

With its attempt at funnelling a complex father-daughter dynamic through interplays of tragedy and comedy, Treasure feels like a dissonant Hollywood version of Toni Erdmann. Considering the fact that it was written by German director Julia von Heinz and her partner John Quester, certain elements of naiveté in the script come as somewhat surprising. Dialogue takes precedence over presentation, yet for the most part, it is one big ball of exposition. Dunham’s character feeds her father’s family history back to him – as if he hadn’t lived through it and must logically be the very source of most of her information – for the benefit of the audience’s understanding. While the style orients itself towards Mumblecore, the desired effect of relatability fails to materialise, as the viewer is all too aware of the artificiality.

There are deeply intriguing concepts presented by the story, for instance, Ruth’s tendency to self-harm, as if to make the intellectualised horrors tangible to her own body, when in reality her eating disorder is a slap in the face to those who experienced actual starvation in the camps. With so much of Ruth and Edek’s trajectory treated in jest, the piece risks not turning the corner in time for the emotional elements to penetrate.

Dunham and Fry have a good rapport in their strained relationship but these are not necessarily the kind of performances that can save an entire film when all else fails, like Anthony Hopkins did for One Life.

The most interesting development will be to see how Polish and Jewish audiences receive the film. Fry’s personal history of incurring the country’s rage is presumably water under the bridge and many will likely be able to appreciate his learning to speak the language. Nevertheless, it is quite feasible for a number of Poland’s citizens to take offence at being portrayed as money-grabbing opportunists, since the film’s running gag is that it only takes a couple of American dollars to make anyone they encounter change their minds.

Treasure is not the worst accounting for some of the most devastating parts of human history, but with films like The Zone of Interest currently in UK cinemas, there are more thought-provoking and more necessary pieces to watch.

Selina Sondermann

Treasure does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2024 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.