The Treasure
A man is approached by his neighbor with a business proposition: lend him some money to look for buried treasure in his family’s backyard and they’ll split the proceeds. This magical modern-day fable from Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu (Police, Adjective) stays continually surprising and funny. An NYFF53 selection.
Costi (Cuzin Toma) leads a fairly quiet, unremarkable life with his wife and son. He’s a good provider, but he struggles to make ends meet. One evening there’s a knock at the door. It’s a stranger, a neighbor named Adrian (Adrian Purcarescu), with a business proposal: lend him some money to find a buried treasure in his grandparents’ backyard and they’ll split the proceeds. Is it a scam or a real treasure hunt? Corneliu Porumboiu’s modern-day fable starts like an old Honeymooners episode with a get-rich-quick premise, gradually develops into a shaggy slapstick comedy, shifts gears into a hilariously dry delineation of multiple layers of pure bureaucracy and paperwork drudgery, and ends in a new and altogether surprising key. Porumboiu is one of the subtlest artists in movies, and this is one of his wryest films, and his most magical. An NYFF53 selection. A Sundance Selects release.
A deadpan gem.
—Scott Foundas, Variety
Surprising, delightful...a breath of fresh air.
—Jessica Kiang, The Playlist
One of the more fascinating minds working in cinema today.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
An ingeniously intricate goofball comedy.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker
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