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National Treasure (review)
- Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies
- Center for the Study of Film and History
- Volume 35.1 (Fall 2005)
- pp. 70-71
- 10.1353/flm.2005.0006
- Review
- Additional Information
Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies 35.1 (2005) 70-71
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National Treasure
(dir. Jon Turteltaub, 2004)
Anne Caldwell
aicald01@louisville.edu
"There's a hidden treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence." National Treasure's deceptively simple plot and patriotis prove a surprisingly rich ground for meditating on the American past and present. Amidst the unsubtle lessons that include both a reading of sections of the Declaration and the assertion that it is "one of the most important documents" in history, the film reflects on the inheritance of the founding and founding as inheritance. If the original vitality of the founding and its principles are to persist, they must be taken up and carried out anew by each generation. The main narrative of the treasure hunt quickly splits; the heroes must not only decipher the code, but also fight off the bad guys. Making use of the vehicle of the treasure hunt—organized around American iconography, the rivalries and bonds of fathers and sons, potential treason, principled ideals and practical materialism—the film is nothing other than a quest for a workable foreign policy, that redeems and rewrites past failures. The rich panorama of foreign policy approaches and aims, at once affirming and critiquing Bush Administration policies, offers us an interpretative palette worthy of the Straussians. It is also a lesson in the role of interpretation and reenactment in maintaining the vitality of the American origin. The heroes of the story do nothing other than renew the spirit of the founding by wresting American's true values from their current decay.
Described by one reviewer as a cross between Indiana Jones [End Page 70] and The DaVinci Code, National Treasure is also a unifying fable for a country still traumatized by September 11, riven by partisan struggle, and in the middle of an apparently disastrous war.Official Washington makes no appearance in the film. Neither of the two major parties, nor any elected official is ever mentioned. The story instead lavishes its attention on the first founders, particularly Washington, Franklin and Jefferson. Their efforts, the film suggests, can be better carried out by ordinary citizens and scholars, in a democratic version of the Platonic-Wolfowtizian philosopher King.
The cryptology becomes less cryptic once the first major clue is discovered. Recalling German Idealism and centuries of Western philosophy, the male treasure hunters begin their quest by seeking a clue that rests with Charlotte. In the twenty-first century, the eternal feminine takes the form of a revolutionary era ship now buried in icy tundra. They soon discover the secret appears in an invisible map on the Declaration of Independence. With perfect historical aplomb,the realization that the Declaration holds the key induces the British financier of the hunt to plan its theft. The American Hero, Ben (Nicolas Cage), finds the idea inconceivable. He is reluctantly forced to conclude he can only save the declaration, "one of the most important historical documents," by stealing it. The ghost of Vietnam, once conjured, is dispelled, by stealing the document instead of destroying it. Vietnam syndrome is vanquished as surely as the President's father announced over ten years ago in Iraq. The failed Iraq policy of the first President Bush, which the son has sought to vanquish, is reworked in National Treasure as a potential success. Unlike an administration that made no plans for after its conquest of Iraq, the treasure hunters have carefully prepared hermetic environments to care for the fragile document. When they cannot return to the prepared room, they continue to take every precaution to preserve the document.
Ben, however,is first and foremost an ordinary decent citizen. Having conceived of the necessity of a preemptive theft, he nevertheless first makes an effort to engage in some multilateral consensus building, and informs the Homeland Security Department, the FBI and the National Archives that someone will soon steal the Declaration. Like pre-September 11 intelligence gatherers, the FBI and amicii see no difference between Ben's tip and everyday chatter...