The Treasure of Croesus

This documentary deals with the scandal of the so-called "Treasure of Croesus" - or rather, with the double scandal, since this sorry affair gave rise to a completely unexpected sequel. The said treasure, also known als the treasure of Karun, was looted from Turkey, which, after a long legal battle, succeeded in obtaining its return. However, the shimmer of gold was to seduce yet other criminals...

The documentary is notable for the clarity with which it exposes the world of looting and its ecosystem, starting with some poverty-stricken fishers or illiterate peasants on the bottom rung and reaching all the way up, up and away to rich and prestigious museums supposed to know better. In between both extremities one finds a whole army of middlemen - traders, importers, forgers, experts, lawyers.

You'll notice that the Karun treasure includes some magnificent pieces of art, including a golden "hippocamp", a winged horse with a fish tail. Keep a watchful eye on this little hippocamp...

I may have written this kind of thing before, but I think that this type of documentary would benefit, and benefit hugely, from the use of subtitles. Just let the various participants speak their own native language, whatever that may be, and then subtitle the whole in the same language - for instance English for an English-language version or French for a French-language version. That way we could actually listen to peoples' voices, and peoples' explanations, without being distracted. Moreover, the use of subtitles tends to encourage the learning of foreign languages.

Still, a very watchable and informative documentary.