The quest for El Dorado has been a long and arduous one in both fact and fiction. Just ask Klaus Kinski in his role for Aguirre, The Wrath of God. The much desired city of gold in comparison to actual treasure makes it a true unknown wonder of the world. The commodity of treasure hunting will forever be an ambitious proposition for any daring explorer. Cinema has a long and varied history with these expeditions, yet ironically treasure excavation has proved more fruitful task in reality.
India has recently found itself at the centre of one of the most exciting treasure discoveries in recent memory. The Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in the Kerala region of South-West India, has unearthed treasure believed to have been untouched for centuries. Precious stones and gold valued at around 25 billion rupees have been discovered. Although it doesn’t rank up there with other archaeological revelations such as the Tomb of Tutankhamun or the Terracotta Army it is still an exciting time for the nation.
One of cinema’s favourite sons is no stranger to India’s prized possessions. Indiana Jones’ expedition into the Temple of Doom showed the infamous explorer attempting to retrieve a sacred sivalinga stone, a common representation of the hindu deity, Shiva. Indiana Jones’s adventures have seen him acquire the arc of the covenant, the holy grail even the mysterious crystal skulls. Although his excavation techniques may be questionable, the excitement brought upon by those movies can be credited to only a number of other titles. The countless booby traps, chases, fights and sheer enjoyment leave other adventure titles in its wake.
Ill-judged efforts such as National Treasure, Tomb Raider, The Mummy and even Pirates of the Caribbean feel pale and limp when uttered in the same sentence as Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yet Steven Spielberg has lent his hand to another fantastical treasure trove: The Goonies wondrously mixes all the great elements from Indiana Jones but throws in an ample amount of comedy.
Despite its 12 certificate, it managed to appeal to children and adults alike, without descending into parody. The Goonies’ quest for the treasure of One-Eyed Willie has earned the film a cult status due to un-ashamed portrayal of children living out the adventures that we all dream of.
Whereas Indiana Jones and The Goonies depict archaeology at its most exciting and inspiring, Sergio Leone depicted the pursuit of riches in a more alternative way. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, is ostensibly a fantastic western but at its heart it is a good ol’ fashioned treasure hunt. Although it owes a lot to films like Treasure of the Sierre Madre, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a true masterclass in cinema.
Following three men, Blondie (Clint Eastwood), Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) and Tuco (Eli Wallach), half way across America in search of an unknown quantity of gold, the film focuses on their desperate attempt to find the gold as all three make and break alliances with each another. To highlight their need for wealth, the film is set during the American Civil War, where fortunes would quickly waver.
Perhaps using the civil war as a metaphor, akin to Gone with the Wind, Sergio Leone displays mans’ equal emotions of passion and good will, yet also greed and murder in all three protagonists. Parallels can perhaps be made to other points in American history, but set to the backdrop to one of the country’s defining events truly adds to the film’s spectacle and is a true testament to the craft of Leone. Homages have been made to it throughout pop culture, none more impressive than the Korean film The Good, the Bad, the Weird.
Throughout all this, fact has a funny way of imitating fiction. As we speak the inspectors at the scene of the treasure in Kerala are attempting to open the sixth chamber in said temple. Security forces have been called in to protect the valuables. Police and plain clothed guards are observing the site 24/7. On top of this the unopened vault is secreted by an iron door, for which expert blacksmiths have been employed in an attempt to unlock the obstacle. It almost seems like it was written for The Last Crusade.
Whatever the findings of the last vault will reveal, it will undoubtedly bring a huge fortune to the region. Debate has arisen as to who the goods rightfully belong but whatever the conclusion it is certainly an exciting discovery harping back to the days of Howard Carter and George Herbert. As long as these discoveries continue, filmmakers will be inspired to tell those stories. Who knows, maybe the road to El Dorado will one day reach a valuable end.
Show Me The Mummy – Treasure In Film (text) by Greg Evans is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
