Before Treasure, pairing Tiny Furniture and Girls auteur Lena Dunham with legendary British comedian and intellectual Stephen Fry might have seemed odd or random at best. But seeing them as father and daughter in the new film, you realize how important casting really is. They’re a brilliant pairing, erudite but huggable, cantankerous in different ways appropriate to their respective generations. In Treasure, the two visit Poland after the fall of the Soviet Union, allowing them to explore their Jewish roots in a country that was torn asunder by the Nazis in World War II.
We spoke with Dunham about the luminous happenstance of this specific pairing. “From the minute we met,” said Dunham regarding her bond with Fry. “So we agreed that we were going to work together. We had a table read, and we both showed up wearing yellow and burgundy striped shirts, literally. His had to do with a team, because he loves teams. I think it has something to do with cricket, because he had to explain to me how cricket is played and what tools it involves, etc., etc., and that it’s not a solo sport. I’m still working on figuring that one out,” laughed Dunham.
She added:
That being said, we showed up literally dressed alike, and we took a photo. We’re like, this is ridiculous. And I have to say, from the day that we landed in Poland at the beginning of February, to the day that we left in May, we started a conversation that just did not end.
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In Praise of Stephen Fry
3.5/5
Treasure, directed by Julia von Heinz, stars Lena Dunham as Ruth, an American music journalist, and Stephen Fry as her father Edek, a Holocaust survivor. Set in 1990, the film follows Ruth and Edek as they travel through Poland, visiting his childhood haunts.
Release Date June 14, 2024
Director Julia von Heinz
Runtime 1h 52m
Writers John Quester , Julia von Heinz
Studio(s) Seven Elephants
Distributor(s) Bleecker Street
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“Probably every interesting party topic I have to talk about came from Stephen Fry,” gushed Dunham, “definitely every fact about classical music or architecture, and also every good dirty joke I have came from Stephen Fry. I tell everyone, he’s the exact person that you would dream he would be, but better. And it’s sort of like a ‘never meet your heroes unless they’re Stephen Fry‘ type situation.” Dunham added:
He’ll casually go to his trailer at lunch, and you’ll be like, What did you do? Did you eat lunch, take a nap? And he’ll be like, ‘Oh no, I have to finish up this book on Greek mythology.’ And you’re like, ‘Oh, okay.’ Like, you just can’t compete.
Actually, Dunham can compete; they’re a perfect pair here. From Bleecker Street, Treasure is in theaters June 14, 2024. Watch the trailer below:
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