Or noir

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")

'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.

It draws you in slowly as most great movies do and delivers an unusual punch and caress in places you don't expect. Also, an unusual softness of direct male sentiment that is surprisingly well communicated in parts without being preachy or too sentimental. And, in this fashion, is quite scarce in movies today. It has all the sweetness, drama, brutality and humor many movies rarely do without crossing lines or insulting your intelligence. The dialog and acting is exceptional and the cinematography (among other things) is quite reaching in its ability to paint a truly encompassing picture. The shortcomings in this movies are rather few and I tend not to dwell on negatives. I honestly recommend it and will indeed watch it again.

It has a good story (historically irrelevant) about the beginnings of oil exports from the middle east. The leading role is played marvelously while for some obscure reason the accompanying major characters are a bit swallow.

Other than that, it is consistent, the film and the story flow without tiring the audience and with awe inspiring scenes of desert battle.

Baring in mind that I gave a 9 to the film because I really enjoyed it and that's what films are about, I have to address the fact that either my knowledge of the Arab world is far lesser than i thought or the film for some reason follows some ill-thought clichés... Half of the people shown on the film would never pass for Arabs... really never... it's more likely that i would pass for an Arab and I'm Greek than half of the cast of the movie... moreover the "heaviness", if it can be a valid term, of the language reminds me more of Persians and less of Arabs ...

Anyways other than that, it is a good film worth seeing, it will make you worth the time.