My next film is incredibly informative but turns out to be about as cinematic as reading a newspaper. 2005’s A Christmas to Treasure is an odd one as it’s certainly educational and packed with information but the whole thing has the feel of one of those videos your history teacher would stick on when they were hungover and couldn’t be bothered. It’s basically a lovely sounding English lady reading out a long list of interesting facts about the holiday season over loads of pretty stock images and clips of Christmassy stuff. We’re given a plethora of facts about the history and manufacturing of various seasonal treats and traditions like the Christmas tree, the yule log, candy canes, eggnog, Christmas cards, turkey dinner and so on, with our narrator speaking in such a slow, measured tone that I become certain that this was definitely originally made as some sort of teaching tool for schools that’s eventually made its way onto Youtube.
However, there’s no denying that it packs a heap of fascinating trivia into its relatively short runtime. It’s an easy watch too - you won’t find anything controversial here, no anti-capitalist rhetoric, no religious preaching, no Peruvian punch-ups. Nope, this is just a good, old-fashioned history lesson.
It’s just as well I don’t need to concentrate too hard as I’m watching this one at the same time as trying to deal with the boiler that’s only bloody well gone and packed in again. It may be the middle of Summer but we’re still trying to find some sucker to buy our house, so this is the last thing we need. Luckily, some bitesize, easily-digestible tidbits of yuletide knowledge eases the pain, though viewing this one on a tablet in my kitchen as I fiddle around with knobs and pipes, with the sunshine streaming in really hammers home that watching this stuff in the middle of June is seriously, seriously odd.
I recall I did see a Facebook post the other day about shops getting their Christmas stock in already, so that makes me feel slightly better. However, I'm also conscious that I casually mentioned in a work conversation yesterday that most popular Christmas songs were penned by Jews and that must have seemed really random. But I can’t deny that I’m enjoying learning so much new stuff about Christmas this month.
This film is a decent enough watch and manages to squeeze in a lot of info on the origins of the Santa Claus legend, stemming from the allegedly real St. Nicholas of Turkey, as well as the introduction of Christmas trees in the UK by German Prince Albert and the origins of the traditional turkey dinner. I’m also chuffed and enlightened to learn why we eat chocolate ‘yule’ logs - apparently it represents a melding of ancient midwinter traditions: one that celebrated the end of winter, and another honouring the Norse god Thor, fact fans.
It’s interesting, as this one seems to very carefully steer away from the Jesus, Mary and Joseph stuff to focus more on western traditions and how these have evolved. The film acknowledges that for as long as records have been kept, humans have always in some way observed and celebrated ‘mid-winter’ and western Festive traditions seem to have evolved, not so much out of the bible, but out of various pagan teachings such as the gathering of holly and mistletoe.
To be honest, A Christmas to Treasure is not the most thrilling or memorable film ever but it definitely is informative and even fascinating at times. This would be a great film to watch to swot up before the office Christmas quiz and I make a mental note to try and do just that this December, though I’m worried my brain will be a melted puddle of festive mush by then.
Considering my stress levels today this one proves a soothing watch, with the narrator’s smooth, angelic voice and gentle, jangling Christmas background music all proving really rather relaxing. Teachers of the world, I wholeheartedly recommend keeping a copy of this handy in case of a sore head on the day after the big Christmas night out. You’re welcome.
Comments