Treasure
Lily Brett, a novelist and essayist from Australia, often writes about the Holocaust as she is the daughter of survivors herself. Her 2001 novel Too Many Men tells the story of a father and daughter who travel to Poland in order for the father to confront his tragic past. The girl meets with what she assumes is Rudolph Hoess’ ghost within the book yes that Rudolph Hoess, or Hoss as it’s spelled too,between whom Jonathan Glazer’s controversial “The Zone of Interest” revolved around last year.
While adapting Brett’s book for film, Julia von Heinz (director and co-writer alongside John Questor) removes all mention of Hoss which might be wise on her part, however what she replaces it with instead is quite horrifying. Treasure still keeps the father daughter road trip narrative intact set in 1991 if you were curious (just how old are these characters anyway?) but Ruth Rothwax (played by Lena Dunham), a New York-based journalist who hates herself because she messed up marriage and has weight problems (she brings plastic containers full of stems and nuts along with her to make small breakfasts at hotels) really loves being pissed off at her Polish Jew dad Edek (Stephen Fry) for not acting sad enough during their joint investigation into his painful history; also she expects everyone around her understand English only which is annoying among American tourists generally speaking but even more so when repeated ad infinitum within movie narratives.
Wait did I say narrative? Treasure sacrifices story for emotion and emoting. This is not to imply nothing happens events occur. In Lodz where Edek grew up before being taken away with his kin to Auschwitz there lives an evil poor family who seem have inhabited their house since 1940 yet still possess Rothschild fine china. Well Ruth wants it back while Edek would rather let go.
Then there’s Auschwitz itself. Will Edek go with Ruth to the death camp (which several Poles they meet call a “museum,” enraging Ruth) or not? This is just one of many sticking points.
Now some individuals are able to perceive why certain people may not want to broach subjects from their past given that it’s, you know, triggering. Ruth is not one such person, holding her father’s silence against him while hiding in her room and reading about Nazis on an empty stomach. Meanwhile dad’s out having fun with elderly ladies, his wife died last year so the mere thought of him finding companionship again makes daughter act like petulant prig dictator.
This movie is puzzling. It is too slow, has bad timing and although Dunham and Fry are both excellent actors, they can’t seem to get out from under their public or on-screen selves. But they do have moments knockout ones like when Edek invades Ruth’s privacy (with reason) or Ruth dickers over the china with those squatters. And the Auschwitz section is more than decent. Almost enough to make you overlook the schmaltzy ending.
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