The Treasure

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Corneliu Porumboiu directs. Tudor Mircea behind the camera. Roxana Szel cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, Romania. Dialogue in Romanian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 3Earned back only 8% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
• 4Released 11 years ago.
• 5International production across 2 countries: France, Romania.
• 6Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 7Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, shot by Tudor Mircea. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 8Editor Roxana Szel shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 9Toma Cuzin and Radu Bânzaru and Florin Kevorkian carry the top of the cast.
• 10IMDB entry: tt4515684 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Only 68 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Tudor Mircea

Editing

Roxana Szel

Production design

Arantxa Etcheverria

Costume design

Monica Florescu

Runtime

89 min · 1h 29m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$1,016,549

Box office

$82,392

Return

8% of budget

Original language

RO

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

The Treasure (2015) ↗

Also by

Corneliu Porumboiu

• 
  12:08 East of Bucharest

  2006 · ★ 6.9
• 
  A Trip to the City

  2004 · ★ 6.9
• 
  Liviu's Dream

  2004 · ★ 6.8
• 
  Police, Adjective

  2009 · ★ 6.5
• 
  When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism

  2013 · ★ 6.2
• 
  Infinite Football

  2018 · ★ 6.2

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Treasure - Official Trailer I HD I IFC Films

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Reno2018-02-04
  ★ 8/10

  Not your typical treasure hunt film! Who doesn't like treasure hunt films. They are always exciting with surprises. See this film poster, and the title is just perfect. That's what I expected, like if not another 'Indiana Jones', then 'National Treasure'. I was disappointed with that perspective. But realised it was unique with the most realistic approach. I've seen plenty of same themed films, but this one stood out to be one of the rare kind. This film is not fun as the others, but surely makes sense of what real treasure hunt means. Though the film did not take the complicated route to narrate the tale. Just a simple, small film. A man from a little middle-class family living in an apartment is approached by his neighbour guy who financially broke. All he wanted was some cash, so that he could go and look for treasure that his dying grandfather told him about. Now these two join hands for the unusual quest. They had to make all the pre-arrangement before jumping into it. Like hiring a metal detector and making it a weekend event for not clashing with their routines. So finally the most expected venture begins and how it all turns out are told with some fun filled tense climax. This is a very slow film. Particularly those treasure hunt sequences became even slower than what one would expect out of it. Probably a film for matured audience. It is considered as a black comedy and yes, that's how everything unfolded. Though not all black comedies are same. I mean not everybody understands clearly why it is called that. In my instance, I expected something else, but got another thing. In the end, I really enjoyed it. The initial story was unbelievable. I mean, if somebody approached me with a theory like that, not just me, most of the people won't easily want to be a part of it. Not because it is illegal, but does not make sense or gives enough reason to take part. It has to be convinced thoroughly. ❝We've all got problems. You've got problems. I've got problems. A man makes his own problems. They don't descend from heaven.❞ The little Robin Hood story at the opening was relevant to how the film has ended. That character called Costi was an ideal man for a typical world. His belief to be a good person in the society, definitely gives the right message. But I did not think he would go for such a quest. That's the first twist. Then following that, seeing his desperate to succeed, more than the man who took him in, it kind of made fun, like of course black comedy. Especially during the hunt, the verbal fight between two out of three set a perfect tone for the rest of the tale. Definitely not a predictable storyline. That's what kept my eyes open, despite frequent drops in the pace of the narration. I liked the dialogues, especially about the some of the technical terms. Like about metal detector, and the brief history about the Romanian communist era, including the Dos and Don'ts, what the law says about the treasures that has found. It was not like you take all the needed tools and the adventure begins. It excellently highlighted that the treasure hunt is not like one you have seen in the films. Finally, regarding the treasure, it comes in many forms. How this film sorted out that part was really cool. That's indeed a well written screenplay. It's not impossible to see such a film in Hollywood, but they won't make money, that's the difference. That is the reason why small film industries around the world shines with such little gems. This is the reason I want to explore the world cinema. When it comes to the development, in some of the parts, the film was not that logical. That's how it has to go, so it became what it is. As I said the end was really cool. I meant the post quest end. It had ended bringing a little smile on my face. Nice performances. The writer, director is the first to be appreciated. I haven't seen many Romanian films, but from those I've seen never disappointed, and so this one, a very satisfying film. My little advise is for those who wants to see it is expect it to be a drama than an action-adventure- thriller. Patience is another thing it required. Probably you would like it after watched it than while watching. But overall a worthy film. 7.5/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Rouge International

  FR

• 

  Les films du Worso

  FR

• 42

  42 Km Film

  RO

• 

  ARTE France Cinéma

  FR

• 

  CNC

  FR

• FO

  Focus Sat

• SC

  SC UPC Romania

• MI

  Ministère des Affaires Étrangères

  FR

• FO

  Fonds Eurimages du Conseil de l'Europe

  FR

• HB

  HBO Romania

  RO

• IN

  Institut Français

  FR

• L'

  L'Aide aux Cinémas du Monde

  FR

Key crew

• ProducerJulie Gayet
• ProducerOlivier Père
• ProducerNadia Turnicev
• ProducerSylvie Pialat
• ProducerMarcela Ursu
• Production DesignArantxa Etcheverria
• Costume DesignMonica Florescu
• CastingBogdan Dumitrache
• EditorRoxana Szel
• Art DirectionMihaela Poenaru

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• treasure

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2015-10-08· New York Film Festival
• Premiere2015-10-16· Chicago International Film Festival
• Premiere2016-01-01· Palm Springs International Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2016-01-08NR
• Digital2016-01-08

Also known as

International titles

• Il tesoroIT
• Le trésorFR
• The TreasureUS
• Der SchatzDE