Der Geheimnisvolle Schatz von Troja

[George Ebersole]

I was wondering if anybody here worked on this German made for TV film. It's exceptionally well shot for a TV movie.

 

It's somewhat like a German "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

[John Sprung]

Perhaps also someone can give us a correct translation of the title. My vague guess is something like "The Secret-filled Treasure of Troja"

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[George Ebersole]

I believe "Troja" translates as "Troy". It's about an archeologist searching for treasure that Helena hid during the final stages of the Trojan War, specifically during the sacking of Troy.

[George Ebersole]

Here're a screen cap from the first few minutes;

Troja_6.bmp

[georg lamshöft]

The translation would be "the mysterious treasure of troy" (about the discovery of ancient troy). It was shot by Gero Steffen, a quite experienced German DoP who has also worked on "Knockin' on heaven's door" (one of the few German movies really worth watching). According to the Making-of-images it was shot on Super16.

 

But I don't know more about it and wasn't really interested in it when it was on TV because these German genre-productions are usually poorly made Hollywood-rip-offs - nice to hear that at least the cinematography was properly done!

[John Sprung]

Hmm -- was this a "Raiders" type fiction film, or the true story of the excavation of Troy? The true story is quite a sad one. Heinrich Schliemann spent most of his life on finding and excavating Troy. Only at the end he came to the realization that in the first few years on the site he had destroyed the very walls and foundations he had been seeking.

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[George Ebersole]

It was a "bio-pic" of sorts, but had some adventurous elements. Some gunplay, a brawl or two, and a twist ending which was not foreshadowed. Apparently German TV has made a slew of these made for TV pics by mining their own history, but this last one, though respectably shot, was the least popular of the dozen plus titles that were shot.

 

For a made for TV two parter film it had some impressive cinematography, and fairly high production values. The kind of thing you'd never see on American television.

[John Sprung]

Why not on the History Channel? It sounds like the series could be given an American version for a reasonable price, and it would be more in line with the history theme than, say, Ice Road Truckers. Do they save textlesses and M&E's?

 

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[George Ebersole]

Sure, why not? Ice Road Truckers, eh? Don't get me started on American "reality" television. I remember in the 70s people were saying television couldn't get any worse with the gamut of one season or half season sit-coms. But they never foresaw alleged "reality TV".

 

On the other hand if I was asked to work on one I'd snag the job like there was no tomorrow. It's work. Just like all those marketing kit videos I worked on in the 90s that aired on late night TV.

 

Seriously though, shows I grew up with would never get produced today; Bonanza, Rifleman, Combat, Kung Fu, the Bionic MAN, or if they did, then it wouldn't be the show I remembered.

 

Enough grousing.

[George Ebersole]

Here's a montage someone put together from various shots. It's only sample, but to me the shots look fairly decent. The fact that it's a made for TV movie, to me at least, makes me nod my head in approval. The movie itself is just okay.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUF0xH1OOVg