Rough Diamonds

It is a rare thing to see hasidic community as shown in show. Culture, religion, traditions, family, business, all were depicted as close to real life as possible. The plot is great, the cast is amazing, the intense is all the way to the end. It is sad the way things kept happening to this family, but it is refreshing to see how intelligent the members of the family are, each trying to carry the burdens to protect the family. The love situation is another great story thoughtout the entire show. Great understand of the religious rituals and ceremonies. Highly recommended to watch and I wish another season is in the thoughts of producers.

As Episode 1 of "Rough Diamonds" (2023 release from Belgium; 8 episodes ranging 47 to 55 min each) opens, an Orthodox-Jew in Antwerp, Belgium goes to his family's Diamant District office, and commits suicide. What drove him to this? In a parallel story, we are introduced to Noah, a brother of the deceased who left the family business and now comes back to Antwerp for his brother's funeral. As it turns out, the deceased brother was in deep trouble on several fronts... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: let me state upfront that I hail from Antwerp, Belgium myself (although now a longtime US resident), so curiosity got the better of me and I just had to check this out. I was surprised how solid this (Flemish) mini-series turned out to be. Episode 1 is a bit tentative as it lays the groundwork for many characters and correlating plot lines, but by Episode 2 it becomes clear what is going on. I'll just have to say it: this mini-series is reminiscent of "The Godfather", yes! The series brings us the ups and downs of an Orthodox Jewish family, as it fights for survival in the rough diamond cutting industry (Antwerp is the diamond capital of the world, with 80% of the world's rough diamond trading). Along the way we get a unique insider's perspective of the Hasidic Jewish community (more Orthodox Jews in Antwerp than anywhere else in West Europe), AND a great look at the city of Antwerp. I immediately recognized quite a few of the scenery (we lived not far from the Diamond District, and about half of our condo building's neighbors were Jewish (some of them Hasidic). If you are not familiar with Antwerp, I think you will be surprised to discover this world-class city. Please note that Netflix shows this as being in "Flemish (with subtitles)", but in fact there is a mix of Flemish, French, Yiddish and English being spoken throughout, reflecting the thoroughly international character of the city of Antwerp.

"Rough Diamonds" premiered on Netflix about a week ago, and I fell upon it as I was going through the "recently added" stuff. I watched the initial 4 episodes just last night, and I expect to see the remaining 4 episodes later this weekend. Being at the midway point of this mini-series, I am completely invested in the story line and I can't wait to see how it all plays out. If you are in the mood for a top-notch foreign crime drama set in the exotic world that is the diamond district in Antwerp, Belgium, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

*UPDATE* I've now seen all 8 episodes, and this Flemish mini-series just got better and better as is went along, and I've upgraded my rating to 8 stars. There has been internet buzz about there being a second season, due to the general acclaim of this, but I'm not sure as this mini-series played out quite well and wrapped up the story lines. Of course that has never prevented other such similar stories to "creatively" find more life... We'll see.

This was so much fun to watch. It is filled with tension and many twists and turns. Everyone plays hard-ball at different times.

One is catapulted into this Jewish diamond world, and we get an inside view of the intricacies of this culture and its dealings with the society outside of them.

It is an intrigue that reminded me of other great crime thrillers. People are being played off against one another and do not know who to trust. Alliances are formed and then broken. The acting is very convincing and first-rate. We feel the dilemma of the different characters being pulled in different directions.

I am hoping for a second season.

The production values are fine, the storyline is interesting, but as usual, Netflix is lax about uploading details of the cast and episodes. Netflix must improve in this area. It seems that they have no one working for them who has any knowledge of actors who are not primarily known for English language based films or TV.

The 8th episode is streaming now and still, the cast is mostly still listed without any photos or details in the episode guide. Several actors are obviously rather accomplished people in the field of European productions, to judge by their performances, but there is nothing about them in the cast listings. Viewers are left in the dark in regard to work histories and images. To say that Netflix is lax in this area is an understatement.

This is obviously not to mention that there are still no synopses for the episodes at all, 8 episodes in. Netflix is becoming well known for this laxness.

Have watched 6 episodes so far. Series has some good parts but many weak ones too. It's often unrealistic and far-fetched.

The actors who play Eli and Adina are quite good. The actor who plays Noah is not great, but he's really great at looking confused.

The series has several different stories taking place and some of them make no sense.

Overall, it's not easy to recommend this series as there are much better series available to watch. Hence, the series is disappointing, but could easily have been better with a better script.

One aspect of the series that is interesting is the glimpse into the workings of the world-famous diamond district in Antwerp.