The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar – Templar Knights skat (2006)

Directed by: Kasper Barfoed | 85 minutes | adventure, family | Actors: Julie Grundtvig Wester, Christian Heldbo Wienberg, Nicklas Svale Andersen, Frederikke Thomassen, Peter Gantzler, Ulf Pilgaard, Kurt Ravn, Brigitte Simonsen, Bent Conradi, Søren Steen, Jarl Forsmann, Joanna Sus Gren Hansen, Erik Holmey, Christine Dea Mols, Vibeke Nørgaard, Tore Vange Pedersen

‘The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar’ is about four children who discover a secret. The main character is thirteen-year-old Katrine who is on holiday with her father in Bornholm. She has two friends there, Nis, who likes reading and computers and who studied the Templars that summer, and Mathias, who is more into sports. When a friend of her father’s is murdered by some mysterious men in black robes, the three witness it. As they search for the killer, it soon becomes apparent that the murder is linked to the legendary Templar treasure.

According to press reports, “The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar” resembles “The Da Vinci Code”, the bestseller by Dan Brown, and the children’s book series “The Five” by Enid Blyton. Barfoed is proud of these comparisons, as he finds ‘The Da Vinci Code’ as exciting as many others and devoured the books about ‘The Five’ as a child. Yet it was not his intention to make a film based on those examples. What Barfoed especially wants is to make an exciting film about the round churches on the Danish island of Bornholm, which are more than 800 years old. There are theories that the French Knights Templar had to do with this so-called rundkirker. Barfoed got the idea for the film when he talks to writer Erling Haagensen. According to Haagensen, the churches were built by the Templars and provide clues about the mysterious treasures of the Templars. Haagensen’s story gets stuck in Barfoed’s head. As a small child he did visit the round churches on school trips, but now he becomes terribly curious about them. He decides to make a movie about it. The film should be exciting, but also believable. Therefore, the events that occur in the film are logical and realistic and Barfoed does not use digital special effects.

Barfoed has been successful: his film is exciting and believable. Unfortunately, the mystery of the legendary treasures of the Templars is not revealed, but of course there is nothing to prevent the churches in Bornholm from taking a closer look. A downside of the film is the ending, due to the predictability and false sentiment. That is, just like with ‘The Da Vinci Code’, a bit of a letdown after all the carefully built tension that precedes it.