'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.
