TREASURE OF THE WHITE FALCON

(2005) Germany, minutes,
Language: German with English subtitles,
Directed by Christian Zübert

Genre Feature Film

Synopsis

Grown-up Jan takes his daughter to do a special visit with him. When she begins asking questions, he embarks on a tale of adventure, desire and loss from his boyhood. Treasure of the White Falcon vividly entertains, while exploring themes of friendship and coming-of-age.

Key Themes

Adventure
Friendship
Maturing/coming-of-age
Desire
Loss

Main Characters

Jan – takes his young daughter to a special place, where he begins to tell her a story from his boyhood.

Stevie and Basil (Sebastian) – Jan’s two best friends.

Marie – the leader of the gang of children from the village.

Olli – Marie’s friend.

Peter Laux – the boy who disappeared 10 years ago when he went hiking one day.

Ursula Laux – Peter’s mother.

The Tanner boys – friends of Peter’s who had a club with him before they moved away.

Before the Film

• Before beginning the film, ask yourself what type of film you are watching: this is called the genre. Genre means style of film. For example, is the film a feature film (a long film which tells one main story), a short film (usually from a few minutes to half an hour), a documentary or an animation?

• Ask yourself what the title of the film might mean: speculate as to why the filmmakers would have chosen the specific title. After watching the film, try to make sense of the title in context to the film. Compare your understandings about the meaning of the title before and after watching the film.

• Films use lighting, sound, different angles, movement, sequence and timing to convey meaning. Remember to keep these aspects in mind the following when watching a film.

Things to Think and Talk About Post-Screening

• At the beginning of the film it was easy to side with Jan and his friends against the village gang, but as we learnt more about everybody – and indeed as they learnt more about one another – it became increasingly difficult to decide fully one way or the other: both groups displayed poor behaviour, and both groups displayed admirable traits also. Examine how your conceptions about the characters changed throughout the course of the movie. Discuss Jan, Basil, Sebastian and Marie, in particular, and how they exhibit these changes.

• This film was shot so it would look fairly realistic, without too many obvious effects. Can you think of anywhere where the filmmakers might have had to use effects just to make things look normal? Consider the bike crash at the beginning (was it a stunt?), or the landmine, or… there might be many!

• Different types of music were used: what moods did they create? Did it remind you of something? Did you notice certain points when the music played? Did it enhance your feeling or closeness to the character?

• List three characters you wish you had better insight into, explain why and at which points in the film you would have liked to “see through their eyes”,

• Near the end of the film, Jan must move away. When he visits the town during the next holiday, Marie has moved away herself. He never sees again. Recall that at the end of the film he goes to visit a Peter Laux’s grave. There he finds the pendent which he gave Marie so many years ago, revealing that she has revisited the grave stone also. The adult Jan almost picks it up but decides to leave the pendant on the grave. What do you think of this final move? What does it signify? Would you have done the same? Explain why or why not.

Questions and Discussion Topics

• What were the main themes of the film? Use examples from the film to demonstrate at least three major themes. Did you find any of these themes particularly important to you personally? Why or why not?

• What do you think the most important scene of the film was? What made it so powerful? Describe why you think it was important as well as what techniques were used to create and emphasize its importance: narrative, action, music, sound, lighting, camera work, framing and editing should be considered.

• If you had to eliminate one scene from the film, which would it be? Why would you choose that scene? What do you think would be lost from or change in the film by eliminating that theme?

• What scene was your particular favourite? Briefly describe what you thought the funniest, scariest and saddest scenes in the film were, and what made them this way.

• If you were to recommend Treasure of the White Falcon to a friend, why would you recommend it and what would you tell them?

Exercises and Activities

• Write a review of the film, 300-400 words long.

• Create a storyboard to the next scene after the film ended. What happened to the characters? Pick at least three characters and describe what happens to them afterward.

• Write a letter from the point of view of one character to that of another.

• Think of another film (or book) with similar themes and compare how the two films examined the issue and dealt with the issue. Were they similar or did they treat the issue very differently? Which film did you think better represented the theme/issue?

• Write about the film as if it were an event in a newspaper, a fairy tale or myth, or a personal diary of events that had happened to you!

• Draw a map of what you think the location might have looked like.
• Make a character sketch explaining how their appearance represents their character.

• Create a scene broken down into a sequence of six (6) pictures.