Treasure

The movie is very moving. It shows the different facets of the victim and repression and the urge to protect the children from it, but also the daughter's point of view, who wants to know and understand what her family had to go through. In addition, the relationship between two adults who have the role of child and father is palpable. Both characters only want the best for each other, even though they appear to be mutual. The story doesn't feel like a movie you're watching. You are emotionally taken along on the journey and can experience some of the poignant moments. Beautiful and sad at the same time, it shows the resilience of a person who has experienced tragedy and can still experience joyful moments at the same places.

American journalist "Ruth" (Lena Dunham) had long planned a trip from the USA to her ancestral home in Poland only to find her effervescent father "Edek" (Stephen Fry) has decided to join her. A fluent speaker and full of a slightly annoying joie de vivre, they embark on a trip to the tourist sites, but that's not what she wants. She wants to head to the family home in Lodz where they were a successful industrial family before the Nazi's confiscated their wealth, property and sent "Edek" and his wife to Auschwitz. What is clear is that dad is not so keen on this itinerary, nor is he at all keen on train travel - and the remainder of the film takes us on a family journey that will open the eyes of the daughter whilst bringing back the demons for the father. This tries quite effectively at times to introduce some humour into what is quite an emotional topic, especially when their trip does eventually take them (and us) to his haunting place of incarceration where he finds a flood of memories readily come back to him. Fry over-eggs the accent a bit, but he does manage to convey something of the harrowing nature of his incarceration, and of his mind's determination to protect itself from opening that door to trauma again. Dunham also serves well enough as his independently-minded daughter to support that increasingly troubled characterisation. It's quite a poignant drama that encourages us, as D-Day 80 is still fresh in the mind - to imagine the horrors visited on the Polish people by the Nazis and to realise that in many cases (this is set in 1991) their houses and businesses were still pretty much as they were left in 1941 - only largely dilapidated and with new, poverty-stricken occupants. I did rather like the conclusion - it poses quite an interesting question about what we might do in her place. As a drama, it maybe doesn't need the cinema, but the photography at the now silenced death camp is still blood-curdling.

After the loss of her mother, Ruth decides to make a pilgrimage to Poland and learn about her parents' past. Her father, Edek, decides to join her and make it a daughter-father's trip. As Ruth and Edek travel through Poland, they learn and relive the Jewish people's history and experience how things are in the present. As they travel together, Edek and Ruth learn more about each other, share their burdens, and grow closer.

This film is based on the true story of the child of two Auschwitz death camp survivors and her journey to learn about her family. The story is approached delicately. While the subject is heavy, the story is told simultaneously in a manner that is both serious and lighthearted. The story develops slowly, making the audience feel the nearly two-hour runtime. This film has multiple themes the audience can focus on, and by the end, it is a very gratifying watch. This is a decent watch once it is available to stream.

Realistic portrayal of the way trauma carried on within families of Holocaust survivors. Just because the war ended didn't mean that all the wrongs were righted. This shows how those atrocities were resolved over time only by the people willing to acknowledge them and do the work, both victims and good Samaritans. And, likewise, there still existed people that kept the spoils of war and continued to profit from it.

Science only recently learned how trauma can literally be transferred through DNA (by causing stress responses to be expressed in offspring that would not otherwise have been). This is probably an evolutionary adaptation to increase the survival of offspring in a particularly stressful environment. Interestingly, this story might actually demonstrate that process at work. I believe the writers are referencing this phenomena when they show Ruth having nightmares about lice in her bed. Although the actual memory is not inherited, the stress response would have been, triggered by reading the history. Adding to the fact of also being raised by survivors who suffered from PTSD, it correctly characterizes her as an extended victim of the Holocaust.

There is some other stuff going on here, too, including messages on body positivity and grief over losing a loved one. I really like that they go on this physical journey as a representation of their inner transformation, because places, especially associated with ancestors and childhood are extremely powerful in shaping us. So, returning to them in order to reprocess memories and heal, is a believable scenario of change. It also seems that as a society, as we put wars behind us, we pretend as if those people and places no longer exist, never returning to them, or preserving them and refusing to change them. I think there's some commentary here about the unhealthiness of this, even if revisiting it can help people heal. Perhaps it can change once all the people heal & can move on. But, of course, there are legitimate reasons that we should maintain these memories as a society.

It's really refreshing to me seeing a movie that's just sincere. Nothing stylized or saccharine, just really powerful dialogue and story unfolding naturally while working on so many levels. It feels like this movie exists in the real world. I'm usually skeptical about fiction that incorporates the holocaust because sometimes it's used as an unnecessary gimmick, but every element about this story is vitally important. The conversations about processing generational trauma are breath-taking. The two lead actors, Lena and Stephen, really made me empathize with their characters and they both deserve Oscar nominations. Also, this is based on a true story and I love when movies based on true stories show photos of the real-life people during the credits.