Treasure is a 2024 tragicomedy film directed by Julia von Heinz. Based on the 1999 novel Too Many Men by Lily Brett, the film stars Lena Dunham, Stephen Fry and Zbigniew Zamachowski. It’s the story of Ruth, (Lena Dunham), a young New York woman who, shortly after the collapse of the Iron Curtain, accompanies her father Edek (Stephen Fry) to Poland for a tour of his childhood home, the remnants of the family’s business, and the concentration camp at Auschwitz, which he miraculously survived while the rest of his large Jewish family perished.[2] Edek uses his fluency in Polish to appear acclimated, and befriends anyone along the way. This zest for life camouflages a deep distrust for Polish people and his wariness over digging into the past so Ruthie does not become another deceased loved one, which is not an irrational fear after the Kielce Pogrom in July 1946, which is explicitly referenced. [3]
Initially titled Iron Box, the film is directed by Julia von Heinz who also wrote the screenplay with John Quester, and is produced by Seven Elephants and Good Thing Going.[6]
The film was shot from 21 February 2023 to 7 May 2023 in Germany at Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and in Poland. 18 of the 39 days of filming took place in central Germany in spring 2023. The main filming location in the region was Halle (Saale).[7]
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating by critics of 41% based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10.[13] Among verified audience members, though, the film has an approval rating of 91%, with an average rating of 4.3/5.[13]
Ben Roll of The Wrap wrote that "...“Treasure” pulls at the impossible understanding between a generation of survivors and the children they reared – kin separated by incompatible visions and experiences of the world, casting orphans against progeny raised in quiet grief while spared from similar heartbreak."[14]
David Erhlich of IndieWire gave the film a B-, and wrote: "Adapted from Lily Brett’s autobiographical 1999 novel “Too Many Men,” “Treasure” is essentially an intergenerational story about the walls that people build in order to protect themselves and each other. More specifically, it’s a story about what happens when those walls grow so tall they threaten to block out our loved ones on the other side, and the difficult process that’s required to dismantle them before it’s too late."[15]
Alex Godfrey of Empire rated the film 3/5, and wrote: "Director Julia von Heinz takes on a lot here, wrangling a lightly comedic father-daughter road-trip buddy-movie out of her adaptation of a 542-page book, unpacking generational trauma, the legacy of Auschwitz and institutionalised antisemitism."[16]
Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph rated the film 2/5, and wrote: "Sombre, sluggish and usually on the right side of respectable, Julia von Heinz’s film eventually bottles its task, coming to mollifying conclusions about the 20th century’s starkest horrors."[17]
Leslie Felperin, reviewing the film for The Hollywood Reporter, dubbed it as "Oy gevalt!", and opined: "So muddled and misbegotten it’s hard to perform an evidential postmortem, based strictly on one viewing, of where it all goes wrong."[18]
Wendy Ide reviewing the film at the Berlinale, wrote in ScreenDaily: "Treasure is a curiously inert work, a film that feels as emotionally grey and underlit as its cinematography."[19]
Ben Rolph in AwardsWatch graded the film C, and wrote: "Dunham’s connection to the story cannot save her stilted line delivery, every word feels forced as if just read off the page giving a frustrating lack of authenticity in her performance."[20]
