Il Tesoro

this movie is full of surprises, existing as it does in the shadow of conventional Hollywood story telling. it's premised on the deal made between two neighbours to investigate a rumoured buried treasure, and as the film progresses there are many opportunities for others to get involved and claim a slice, if not all, of the loot for themselves. if in fact there is any treasure. we've seen enough heist movies and buried treasure movies to know what money does to people, how they treat one another; double crossings, murder, corrupt cops etc. all of the tropes you can expect from this kind of narrative exist here as possibilities, and as such determine the expectations of a viewer. but the film operates in a kind of flat negative space produced by these expectations, and delivers a series of perverse thrills by its avoidance of conventional narrative arcs and possibilities. it's a refreshing, low-key undermining of Hollywood screen writing hegemony. . .

'The Treasure' is a bit of an odd duck. The film is about a man that is approached by his neighbor to help him dig up some theoretical treasure in his town yard. But things aren't so simple. Both of these men are rather poor and can barely afford to pay for a metal detector. This is one of those films that is a very unique experience. While it's certainly something that I haven't seen before, it's unfortunately one that I don't think I will ever revisit. The main reason for this is because the films plot is extraordinarily thin. The brief plot summary I mentioned at the beginning is really the only thing that this is about. They want to find treasure than they go digging.

Oddly enough this lack of substance seemed almost intentional. The whole point of the movie was to be as natural as possible. I will say that the characters and performances do dish out some very dry humor this way though. In fact the humor is so dry it can be easily missed. Especially when there isn't all that much of it.

Although my main gripe with this film is in it's story, it can still be oddly enchanting. I think this has a direct correlation with humans love of money. Or, I mean, treasure. I think anyone can relate to the desire to find loot. So when we see a guy rooming around with a metal detector for over fifteen minutes of screen time it's not as bland as it could have been. ​ But, it's still pretty bland. I mean there's only so much of this nothing that one can reasonably take. I enjoy watching movies that replicate life itself but this one isn't that kind of movie. It's so paper thin, in fact, that watching it felt more like reading an essay. Character 1 goes into house while character 2 sits with character 3. Character 2 and 3 get into argument. Character 1 intervenes. And so on.

While I obviously understand the dryness that the movie is going for, it's just oh so dry. Again, there is literally fifteen minutes of this film that involves these three characters pacing around a yard. Doing nothing but metal detecting. After that we get about twenty more minutes of nothing but digging.

A few of the people argue between this but other than that, there is nothing to this. The characters are half decent and can provide some stimulation yet, they aren't good enough to make you really think about anything. The only really great part of this movie is in the visuals. It may not have many dynamic shots but they are all well composed and utilize long takes to highlight the simple feel of the film.

I certainly appreciate the purpose behind many of the decisions made, I just can't get past this movies lack of substance. It's so bland and dry that even when it's trying to simulate life itself, it's hard to relate too. I found myself more interested in the palms of hands than what I was seeing on screen. Great visuals and decent direction can only go so far, so by the thirty minute mark I was totally checked out.

Corneliu Porumboiu's fifth feature could well be his worst too. He just follows the usual modern arthouse genre and show a story that is for mainstream audience. The script and making are way too shallow.

I spent $7 to rent this on Amazon, based on flamboyant critical praise. The trailer looked promising, like a deadpan comedy. But it wasn't anything like I expected. It couldn't have been slower, duller, plodding. I appreciate the low-key naturalistic style that is European cinema, but in this case, it wasn't shedding much light on any internal journey. And being halted as a comedy? I often marvel when reviewers claim something is a comedy. Why? Because there may be slight nuances of humannature's foibles? There was not a moment that I was amused in a heightened comedicway. The basic plot line - that a neighbor enlists another neighborwith a possible buried treasure - takes near 90 minutes for negligible plot development. I like slow, non-Hollywood movies, but this was really SLOW. And reviewers hailed the transformative payoff in the last two minutes. But for me it was too little, too late. Not recommended. Just plodding.

"A man makes his own problems; they don't descend from heaven." Cornel (Corneliu Cozmei)

The two heroes of the strange but lovable Romanian comedy, The Treasure, do create their problems, mainly digging for treasure in a backyard with the help of Cornel and his metal detector. Although the two hapless diggers are in serious need of cash flow, there is something mock heroic in their haphazard plans that are bound to go wrong from the get go. Not even to say the possibility of Cornel blackmailing them for breaking Romanian found-treasure laws.

Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale tells of the dire consequences when men try to find easy gold, and Treasure of Sierra Madre has a similarly fateful trajectory. Beckett's Waiting for Godot also comes to mind as the search has a simplicity, frustration, and sure-to fail feel to it. However, The Treasure has a lighter tone, not hilarious by any means, but aiming to take this goofy quest and make it a modern morality tale with Keystone-Cops flavor.

The "takes" are long and slow with an emphasis on establishing, diminishing, and revealing character through conversation in an everyday mode that veritably shouts out the inevitable upending. The pace is leisurely if not downright slow—you know you're almost in real time as you watch them slowly dig for the treasure. The occasional long shots seem to emphasize the long-shot stupidity of the enterprise.

It's the ending that will wake you from your torpor to wide-eyed wonder. Enough said.