The film with Zamachowski at the Berlinale divided foreign critics: “wretched” vs. “tearjerker”

The 74th edition of the International Film Festival is taking place in Berlin, with many Polish accents. Kamila Urzędowska joined the prestigious group of Shooting Stars award winners. In 2023, the actress played Jagna in the painting adaptation of “Peasants”. A similar distinction was previously received by Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz. A film with Zbigniew Zamachowski also debuted during this year’s Berlinale.

The first reviews of “Treasure” are not optimistic

We are talking about “Treasure” by Julia von Heinz, which was included in the special section of the competition. The Polish actor appeared on screen alongside Lena Dunham (“Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”, “Girls”) and Stephen Fry (“V for Vendetta”, “Gostford Park”). The drama is the result of cooperation between Polish, German, French and American creators and tells the story of music journalist Ruth and her father, who managed to survive the Holocaust.

The family lives in New York, but after the fall of the Iron Curtain, they travel around Poland. “For the first time in their lives, father and daughter are really getting closer to each other. The New Yorkers’ journey through post-socialist Poland is strong proof that confronting the painful past does not have to be painful,” we read in the film’s announcement. It is an adaptation of the novel “Too Many Men” by Lily Brett.

The premiere screening of the production took place on February 17, and the first opinions about the work can already be found online. Unfortunately, most are not favorable. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film only scored a 38 percent freshness rating from critics. The good news, however, is that there are only eight reviews, which is quite a small sample size.

“On paper this story is impressive, but the movie turned out miserable”

Deadline’s Stephanie Bunbry notes that the Von Heinz movie failed to capture the book’s most important elements. The novel “delights with its light, comic tone” that tells the story of the lasting impact of the Holocaust on subsequent generations. “Families have their jokes, but there is an awareness of pain underneath.” According to the critic, the film lacks this lightness, but also surprise and unconventional solutions. “It’s a strangely flat road movie,” writes the reviewer.

Ben Rolph from awardswatch.com emphasizes that he understands that such a delicate topic must be approached carefully, but being too conservative will harm the film. “Every word Dunham utters seems forced, as if she was reading from a page. This is frustrating and makes her lack authenticity,” writes the critic. “On paper, this story is impressive, but the film turned out miserable due to the poor script, acting, and cinematography. You can’t avoid rolling your eyes when embarrassing, unbelievable dialogues appear on the screen,” the reviewer sums up.

“A strange inert work that seems as gray and emotionally underexposed as his photos,” writes Wendy Ide from screendaily.com. “The film is clumsy, poorly made, a mess. It’s difficult to analyze it thoroughly after one viewing and show exactly how everything went wrong here, it’s so confusing,” adds Leslie Felperin from the Hollywood Reporter.

However, critics unanimously emphasize that the director approached the difficult topic with due respect, which is especially emphasized by Stephen Salto from Variety in his review. Unlike several other reviewers, the journalist also appreciated the acting of the main characters. The Times’ Kevin Maher also shares this opinion. The journalist calls the characters “a charismatic duo” and the film “a restrained tearjerker about suppressed grief and family tensions.”