(no subject)
Treasure hunt
The film untitled “National Treasure” featuring Nicholas Cage and Diane Krucker I watched 3 days ago made me think about treasure hunt. In this film, the main characters are after a treasure hidden somewhere in the America by the Knight Templars and the Freemasons.
Ben Gates, played by Nicholas Cage, steals the Declaration of Independence from the Museum and finds out that in the back of this document are hidden the codes that lead to the treasure. He and his friends follow the hints and discover the Templars’ treasure.
This film was nice but just nice and nothing more, only for entertainment, but it made me think about some questions.
The first question that came to my mind was that how could people risk their life for something whose they could not be sure about the existence. Those people are a bit weird for me, because they seem to not have anything else to be worried about, anyone to care about and anything they fear to lose. Ok, you will say that it’s just fiction and there are not people like this in the real life. But treasure hunt does exist in reality; it’s just that those adventures are not as spectacular as in films. And I just wonder if those people really believe that what they would find in the end of their journey could worth what they left behind. In this film, the treasure Ben is after has many meaning for him. He wants to find it and not to use it. I can understand this passion and living for your passion is something admirable anyways. And this may be the only thing that could convince me.
The second question is way easier to understand. I am usually against any destruction of art pieces and historical patrimonies. The way people chase after the hints in order to reach their treasure makes me mad, not only in “National Treasure” but also in films like “Tomb Raider”. They are destroying historical sites and damaging art works just to find out the secrets hidden in it. I can not stand it. Some may say that knowing “the truth” and solving secrets are important and meaningful, but I do not care about those secrets. I would rather let those beautiful legacies intact than breaking them just to satisfy my curiosity. In the film, they steal the Declaration of Independence, something that beautiful and vulnerable, from the museum. They use lemon juice to make the invisible code appear and travel to dangerous place carrying the Declaration with them. What if the map was tore apart or burnt into dust? What could they do then to give back to humanity this historical document?
The third question is about choice. In the film, there is a scene where Nicholas Cage and Diane Krucker are in danger and he has to choose to let her or the Declaration fall. He decides to let go off her hand and let her fall to the wood corridor near them to catch the Declaration. And when he says sorry to her, she answers that “Don’t worry, I would do the same to you” with a grateful look in her eyes and a big smile. In the previous paragraph, I said that I treasure artistic and historical items but the life of a person is much more important. I would not bet with the life of a human, and certainly not with the life of the one I love. While watching the scene, I asked my self what I would do between the hand of someone and a painting like “La Joconde”. If this was some one I love then the answer would be so evident. But if I had to choose between someone not related to me and “La Joconde”, what should I do? I spent some minutes and I came to the answer that I would choose the person. “La Joconde” is really important to me and this person is not, but he or she is certainly important to someone else, and may be the reason of someone else’s life. Nobody wants to lose their loved ones, even in exchange of something like “La Joconde”. Besides, I believe that Leonardo DaVinci would not be happy either to learn that a person lost his life because of the painting.
One more thing to say is that I can not understand why the Knight Templars would choose the America to hide their treasure! I mean, the hypothesis of a certain treasure of the Order of the Temple is popular but I can not think of any reason for which the Templars would bury their treasure in the America. The Order disappeared definitely in 1314 and at that time, the America did not exist in the Europeans’ map yet. Even if there were some secrets societies that kept hiding and transferring the secrets to posterity, how could they transport that many items all together to the America? Where could they hide such a huge treasure (nearly as large as a great hall) from 14th century to the Independence Declaration of the USA? Why could they burden themselves bringing the treasure to the other side of Atlantic Ocean instead of finding somewhere safe in Europe?
I do not know how to answer to those questions … Can someone help me?
The film untitled “National Treasure” featuring Nicholas Cage and Diane Krucker I watched 3 days ago made me think about treasure hunt. In this film, the main characters are after a treasure hidden somewhere in the America by the Knight Templars and the Freemasons.
Ben Gates, played by Nicholas Cage, steals the Declaration of Independence from the Museum and finds out that in the back of this document are hidden the codes that lead to the treasure. He and his friends follow the hints and discover the Templars’ treasure.
This film was nice but just nice and nothing more, only for entertainment, but it made me think about some questions.
The first question that came to my mind was that how could people risk their life for something whose they could not be sure about the existence. Those people are a bit weird for me, because they seem to not have anything else to be worried about, anyone to care about and anything they fear to lose. Ok, you will say that it’s just fiction and there are not people like this in the real life. But treasure hunt does exist in reality; it’s just that those adventures are not as spectacular as in films. And I just wonder if those people really believe that what they would find in the end of their journey could worth what they left behind. In this film, the treasure Ben is after has many meaning for him. He wants to find it and not to use it. I can understand this passion and living for your passion is something admirable anyways. And this may be the only thing that could convince me.
The second question is way easier to understand. I am usually against any destruction of art pieces and historical patrimonies. The way people chase after the hints in order to reach their treasure makes me mad, not only in “National Treasure” but also in films like “Tomb Raider”. They are destroying historical sites and damaging art works just to find out the secrets hidden in it. I can not stand it. Some may say that knowing “the truth” and solving secrets are important and meaningful, but I do not care about those secrets. I would rather let those beautiful legacies intact than breaking them just to satisfy my curiosity. In the film, they steal the Declaration of Independence, something that beautiful and vulnerable, from the museum. They use lemon juice to make the invisible code appear and travel to dangerous place carrying the Declaration with them. What if the map was tore apart or burnt into dust? What could they do then to give back to humanity this historical document?
The third question is about choice. In the film, there is a scene where Nicholas Cage and Diane Krucker are in danger and he has to choose to let her or the Declaration fall. He decides to let go off her hand and let her fall to the wood corridor near them to catch the Declaration. And when he says sorry to her, she answers that “Don’t worry, I would do the same to you” with a grateful look in her eyes and a big smile. In the previous paragraph, I said that I treasure artistic and historical items but the life of a person is much more important. I would not bet with the life of a human, and certainly not with the life of the one I love. While watching the scene, I asked my self what I would do between the hand of someone and a painting like “La Joconde”. If this was some one I love then the answer would be so evident. But if I had to choose between someone not related to me and “La Joconde”, what should I do? I spent some minutes and I came to the answer that I would choose the person. “La Joconde” is really important to me and this person is not, but he or she is certainly important to someone else, and may be the reason of someone else’s life. Nobody wants to lose their loved ones, even in exchange of something like “La Joconde”. Besides, I believe that Leonardo DaVinci would not be happy either to learn that a person lost his life because of the painting.
One more thing to say is that I can not understand why the Knight Templars would choose the America to hide their treasure! I mean, the hypothesis of a certain treasure of the Order of the Temple is popular but I can not think of any reason for which the Templars would bury their treasure in the America. The Order disappeared definitely in 1314 and at that time, the America did not exist in the Europeans’ map yet. Even if there were some secrets societies that kept hiding and transferring the secrets to posterity, how could they transport that many items all together to the America? Where could they hide such a huge treasure (nearly as large as a great hall) from 14th century to the Independence Declaration of the USA? Why could they burden themselves bringing the treasure to the other side of Atlantic Ocean instead of finding somewhere safe in Europe?
I do not know how to answer to those questions … Can someone help me?