Black Gold

Jean-Jacques Annaud's "Day of the Falcon" (also known as "Black Gold") attempts to deliver an epic historical drama set against the backdrop of the Arabian oil boom. While the film boasts undeniably stunning cinematography, capturing the vast beauty of the desert landscapes, and features an ambitious scope with large-scale battle sequences, its narrative often struggles. The dialogue can feel stilted and unnatural, and the performances, despite a talented international cast including Antonio Banderas and Mark Strong, sometimes lack the necessary emotional depth to fully engage the audience. The pacing can be uneven, and the film's attempt to blend historical commentary with a personal love story occasionally feels forced, resulting in a visually impressive but ultimately less impactful cinematic experience.

Is it worth watching? If you appreciate grand historical visuals and sweeping desert epics, it might offer some enjoyment. However, if you prioritize strong character development, natural dialogue, and a consistently engaging plot, you might find it a somewhat tedious watch.

In the beginning of the Twentieth Century, in Arabia, Emir Nesib (Antonio Banderas) of Hobeika defeats Sultan Amar (Mark Strong) of Salma after years of war between their tribes and they make a peace treaty creating "The Yellow Belt", a large no man's land that would separate their lands and would not belong to neither of them. Further, Nesib demands the sons of Amar, Saleh and Auda, to be raised together with his children Tarik and Leyla by him in Hobeika as a guarantee of their agreement.

Fifteen years later, representatives of the Texas Oil find oil in the Yellow Belt and the modern and liberal Emir Nesib sees the opportunity to improve and modernize the life of his tribe, building hospitals and schools, and the American Company begins the exploitation of the oil field, violating the peace pact.

Nasib sends a representative to make an agreement with the fundamentalist Sultan Amar, but he does not accept the offer. Saleh decides to travel to Salma to talk to his father and kills his two companions, but he is captured and murdered by Tarik. Prince Auda (Tahar Rahim) and Princess Leyla (Freida Pinto) are in love with each other since they were children and they get married with the full permission of Nesib. Auda travels to Salma expecting to convince his father to associate to Nesib, but the conservative Amar does not accept the proposal and decides to fight against Nesib. Now, Prince Auda shall decide in which side he will pick and fight.

"Black Gold" is another wonderful epic adventure by the French director Jean-Jacques Annaud with a great international cast and wonderful cinematography in an environment of "Lawrence of Arabia". The story is entertaining, the soundtrack is very beautiful and the DVD has magnificent Extras showing the Making Of and the Special Effects. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Príncipe do Deserto" ("The Prince of the Desert")

They don't make many movies like this anymore, it felt like somebody had discovered a lost gem from the 1970s, with real extras, real horses and real camels instead of the soulless computer copies of todays CGI productions. I loved it! Also the story remained interesting, when the Prince has a difficult decision to make whose side he'll be on.

The story apparently is not precisely following actual historical events, but takes the liberty of creating a world of the 1930s like it could have been. No maps are shown on the screen to show which army moves where, because it is the general feeling of a changing world that matters, the struggle between different attitudes, not the history lesson. I do not know why this artistic freedom is making some viewers complain. Hundreds of western movies described battles between soldiers and Indians which were only vaguely similar to actual history, so I don't think this discussion is necessary. "Black Gold" is an adventure movie, first of all. Actually, the makers balance very well between the entertainment value and ambitions beyond that, neither too heavy nor too light. A good compromise was found between a commercial approach and content that has something to say. When the oil flows over the ground, useless like a pond of black ink, one wonders: is it worth all that fighting? One review here said 'the director made a mistake, there is no pipeline', which proves that the poetry of pictures is really lost on some people. Anyway.

The makers, supported by the Emirate of Qatar, succeeded in putting the Arabs in the focus, and if the American guy from Texas Oil remains a cartoon character with a silly hat, it's hardly an accident. Best actors to me were Tahar Rahim as Prince Auda and Mark Strong as Amar, his father. Antonio Banderas, however, had a license for staring, it seems. Any time he has got a close-up without much to say: yes, he stares in an interesting way. The director could have told him him not to overdo it, but I guess it's easier said than done.

'Black Gold' is an old fashioned epic about feuding fiefdoms in 1930's Arabia, when oil had just been discovered in the region. Mark Strong & Antonio Banderas are the two rulers with a long standing rivalry that metamorphoses into a temporary truce, only to flare up again when their very divergent views inevitably come in the way. Tahar Rahim & Freida Pinto as their respective children, married to each other in what is essentially a politically motivated gesture, attempt to play the peacemakers. Performances - particularly Strong, Rahim & Pinto - are very good. Rahim, playing a Michael Corleone-ish character, does a commendable job. Pinto looks lovely, and Strong as the devout Sultan with a conscience, is nicely understated. As is customary in director Jean-Jacques Annaud's films, the locales & cinematography are breathtaking. The action sequences are crisp & filmed in a raw, realistic manner. Where the film falters, is in taking too long to tell a story that in fact needs far less time. Some passages get boring whereas others keep the viewer completely engrossed. It is this unevenness in the film's pacing that dents the possibility of it soaring high. Overall though, not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.

Well the movie has only the best intentions I assume. It tries hard to be as politically correct as possible, while trying to show extremities and cultural differences. That doesn't work as good as the filmmakers might have expected. I think the tone is uneven, while it still may hold some surprises for some people I guess.

Some good acting is involved here and you get the beautiful Freida Pinto in a major role. You also get Riz Ahmed from Four Lions, who's repeating his comedic role (in another tone obviously, but still very funny of course). The sets are nice and you get a history lesson (more or less) from a region that some (most) of you may not know yet ...