User Reviews

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.

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 ...

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.

I saw this movie yesterday on TV and I was instantly captured by its slow start showing the remains of the battle between the two kings. The movie tells the story of the beginning of oil extraction somewhere in the Arabic world. The clash between the strong traditional Islam and the modern western culture is the main thread of the movie. In the end these two worlds blend leaving hope for the best of each to occur. This is a movie contradictory with "classical" anti-American orientation of the Islamic people. Quite a story to tell about honesty, trust, greed, love and friendship. There are several actors to remark in this movie: - The well know Banderas as Emir Nessib is performing as expected for a star of his caliber. His portrays a deceiving king that becomes addicted to become reach by selling the oil from the "Yellow Bent", a piece of desert disputed for centuries between him and Namar. He makes use of everything to argue his actions, including the Coran, his daughter, his sons. - Mark Strong as king Namar produces the biggest impression on me. If I were to imagine a Bedouin warrior king, that would be him. He speaks words of memorable wisdom (a plus for the script) and portrays the "just" leader who keeps his word, lives in honor, respecting the tradition of the Coran. He is also the rigid traditionalist, imposing stupid rules to his people through questionable interpretation of the Coran (like western medicine prohibition). - Tahar Rahim - is the main character of the movie, seeing him evolving from the geek prince Auda surrounded by books to the true leader uniting all the tribes in the end. He is a versatile actor and performs very convincing. - Freida Pinto as princess Leyla is not so convincing, apart from her beauty, keeps alive the myth of "beatiful Arab women", takes part in the conventional end of the plot. - Eriq Ebouaney is remarkable in the secondary role of long time loyal general Hassan Dakhill. The scene in which he is discovered to be held prisoner by Nessib and freed by Auda is memorable. In conclusion, this movies deserves a 7 out of 10, not a masterpiece, but certainly a good movie with minor flaws proving that you don't need a swarm of good looking stars and special effects to make a good movie.

Seems like some reviewers on this site are so in love with their own opinions that they write lengthy essays - but I like to cut, as they say, to the chase. So here it is in the proverbial nutshell: This is a lavishly produced, finely directed and cinematically gorgeous film - those factors in and of themselves deserve and demand attention and critical respect. No need to tell you the storyline here, as you can read it anywhere. Do not be put off if some of the acting and dialogue is a bit hackneyed, because the scope and breadth of the story itself outweigh those trivial problems. And finally, pay close attention so you can keep track of who's who and where's where!

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.

There's undoubtedly a good film to be made out of the scramble for oil in the Arabian desert in the 1930s, and how medieval desert kingdoms were suddenly rushed into the 20th century (this subject was in part dealt in Tintin's Land of Black Gold)– but this is not quite it. We have two warring sultans, played by Antonio Banderas and Mark Strong. As the movie starts, they have decided to make peace, creating a neutral zone in their frontier, but not before Banderas takes Strong's two sons as hostages. The truce holds up for several years (allowing Strong's children to became adults), until an American geologist arrives in a small airplane claiming the buffer zone has a lot of oil beneath it. So the war begins again…

This tries to be an adventure film in the classic tradition. It starts excitingly, but it grows more boring with time. Filming it in English and with non Arabian actors as leads doesn't help the movie in credibility. The decent budget and nice cinematography helps in recreating Arabia in the early 20th century (it was filmed mostly in Tunisia). This was directed by French filmmaker Jean Jacques Annaud (Quest for Fire, The Bear, Seven Years in Tibet). Based on a 1957 novel by Hans Ruesch, a Swiss writer, who also wrote the Eskimo adventure Top of the World (upon which a film starring Anthony Quinn was made in 1960). Also with Freida Pinto, an Indian actress, playing an Arab princess.

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.

I suppose this would have been a lot more interesting if there's some truth ringing in it, versus having to base it on fictitious elements that are seductively compelling if based on a true story about the founding of a nation. It had ambitions to be as epic as Lawrence of Arabia, but this Doha Film Institute backed film set in the early 1900s is probably one of the first being sponsored by an Arab nation, to tell a story about Arabs in the Arabian land. And curious enough, it laid down some lessons learnt about the insatiable demand and corruption of morals that oil and its wealth bring, yet also provided a balanced view on how such wealth, if used judiciously, could benefit subjects of its kingdom.

And that view of being backward, and needing to propel themselves forward to be on par with the Western nations, is held keenly by Emir Nesib (Antonio Banderas), whose kingdom gets ravaged by disease once too many times, and laments that he rules over nothing but endless sand. That is until the Texan Oil company reveals the abundance of oil underneath that will bring about riches to the tune of 100,000 barrels of crude per day at US$1 per barrel, per oil well. Do the math, and any kingdom will open its coffers to that kind of money. Except for Nesib's rival Sultan Amar (Mark Strong), the weaker of the two kingdoms who had agreed upon an uneasy truce with Amar giving up his two sons to Nesib, for the latter to raise, which will effectively guarantee no further attempts of an invasion or war.

The story soon shifts to more politicking many years later, with the realization of god provided riches buried underneath, that eyes are now turned toward milking a piece of No Man's Land. The next act deals with the many politicking and schemes from Nesib, who decides to negotiate a new contract, and cunningly uses Amar's sons Saleeh (Akin Gazi) and Auda (Tahar Rahim) as barter, in addition to Auda's marriage to Nesib's daughter Leyla (Freida Pinto) as leverage, effectively making the two houses relatives. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, before it ventures into action-adventure tradition, hinged with a certain amount of spirituality about being the chosen one and all that jazz, with the rise of a saviour that will unite all tribes and decide whether to consort with oil money from the West.

Director Jean-Jacques Annaud's film has many ideas put together into one long narrative, which if given the time to develop, would have been an epic. Unfortunately, time is not provided, and the film had to be told at such a pace, things seem to happen in linear fashion without much reason, other than to try and squeeze as many elements as possible into a film. Things like the ideological battle between forward thinkers and traditionalists, and the battle between different schools of religious thoughts, make the film richer than it could be, adding a little contemporary slant where moderates have to battle extremists, and those who interpret texts selectively for their own advantage. The word "infidel" is used countless of times in various contexts, and it would have been nice if these subplots were developed further, rather than becoming just a footnote that was in the way, to be brushed aside soonest possible.

Those into action have adequately crafted battle sequences in the desert, where Auda becomes like Dune's Paul Atreides in seeing his knowledge gained from extensive book research translate to very effective battle strategies, complete with fights on horseback and camel-back, while extrapolating the modern versus traditional theme in having swords go up against mechanized weapons from tanks to airplanes. Production values in all aspects are kept exceptionally high and lush, from costumes to sets out there in desert land, with many scenes done the old school way rather than to chalk up numbers through CG.

One may also be attracted by the ensemble star cast assembled for the film, with the likes of Antonio Banderas and Mark Strong as rivals, though the latter had reduced screen time when compared to the former, which was a more interesting character for his moral ambiguity, never shying away to offer a bribe to have things done his way, versus Strong's Amar that was the contrast upright, though uptight, ruler who is almost resigned to his fate that he cannot change history. Both make way for the younger cast such as Tahar Rahim, who is excellent as the narrative shifts its focus to chart his character's meteoric rise utilizing traits earned and learned from both fathers, while Freida Pinto was sorely under-utilized.

The film may at certain junctures behave a little xenophobic given its characters' rather vocal opposition of Westerners and their presence, although nailing it in the head to comment on their unending thirst for oil, but the irony is that many characters were played by non-Arabs, most likely to sell the movie abroad.

Super-high production values here. That's why I rented it. I knew they'd spent some money. To some(me too, initially), it looks like a "B" flick you've never heard of.

In that regard it might exceed some people's expectations.

In hindsite, however, the story is an excellent platform for a great drama, but unfortunately, that drama never comes to fruition.

And I'm not sure why. The film needed more dialog between its lead character(Auda, played by Tahir from 'A Prophet' fame), and both of his "fathers". We get far too little quality acting and dialog, and way too much meandering amongst the desert. Mark Strong is excellent as usual - too bad he has 5 or 6 lines in the entire film(most coming in the first 10 minutes).

The film should have worked dynamically, but the lack of quality dialog and the lack of drama ruin the film. One of many balls that were dropped. The "falcon" storyline and connection - also dropped like a 16-pound bowling ball. The final scene between Banderas and Rahim, ditto.

Watch this film for what it should have been - one of the best made for TV epics ever put on the living room screen.

The film deserves some credit for not selling-out to the geek squad, and for not boring me(entirely), but the film really could have been great.

It's quite beautiful to look at, and most of the acting is passable, but again, it lacks the drama to give it the emotional power to match its 'look'.

60/100 and considering it's 50 million-dollar budget - I won't be adding it to the B-Movie-Marathon anytime soon(even though its total-lack of box-take makes it eligible).

not bad for out-of-the-redbox with low-expectations.

i was deeply moved and excited by this great movie. finally, there's a movie that told us how the kingdom of Saudi Arabia was built. this is a movie not only gave us great scenes of the desert, the people and one of the greatest fighting scene since 'lawrence of Arabia', but also gave us some great love romance between the two younger generations of the Saudi reigning tribes, their loyalty and their faith to each other during the turmoil time. there was also a beautiful romantic touch from that beautiful exquisite free-will young woman from the southern tribe, she not only saved the future king, helped him regaining the land but also left him with a forever nostalgic memory.

the casting did a great job signed up two great actors to play the foe against each other. the development of the young hostage son from a geeky bookworm nerd to a great man with a vision for its land and its future was also very well crafted.

too shame that the extremity of the strong belief of the Muslim religion didn't free that country but enslaved it later with tyranny and totalitarianism. but for this movie itself, this outcome was not what the screenplay and the director really wanted to portray in the first place. what they've tried to tell by this movie were love, loyalty, truthfulness and humanity before that black gold buried and suffocated the whole country's past and future. its later corrution and cruelty of the house of the saud were not included in what they wanted to tell in this particular movie.

this is a wonderful and fantastic film with great cinematography and sound track. an almost perfect romantic saga.

Emir Nesib of Hobeika (Antonio Banderas) and Sultan Amar of Salma (Mark Strong) are rivals, and they have set aside The Yellow Belt between the two tribes as a no-man's land. Amar's two sons are taken by Nesib as hostages to keep the peace. When Texas oilmen finds oil in the Yellow Belt, Nesib uses the oil to modernize but Amar refuses to accept the violation of their peace treaty. Amar's son Prince Auda (Tahar Rahim) is caught in the middle trying to bring the opposite sides together. Freida Pinto also stars as Princess Leyla.

They are trying to bring a compelling piece of history to life. The time when Texas oilmen first meet the Arab world. They try to intermix some Hollywood melodrama with some more traditional Arab insights. It makes it feel like less authentic, but it does have some great adventures. There are no absolute bad or good from the two leaders as Auda tries to navigate both world. Nesib is trying to gain modernity for the good of his people. Amar sees the gold that comes from the oil as little value and mostly corrupting. I don't know if anything is truly resolved in the end with both sides of the argument undefeated. In fact, the death of Amar is a complete cop-out. It leaves a big question completely unanswered. I think there is a better movie to be made about that era.

This epic story of a young prince who becomes involved in the fight for control of oil is an epic focused on a moment in history where control over oil has generated a political and cultural conflict in the Arab lands. The film offers a fascinating story, but it is difficult to take with emotion due to the tedious pace of the script. It is a very well produced film with good direction and good actors. What is conflicting is the way the script was executed because there are some things that are not completely clear and become incomprehensible. Even Auda's decision to command his father's army is not entirely clear. Even with respect to the tribes that are uniting, it is clear that it was necessary to mention their connection with the kingdoms of the emir and the sultan. There is a lot that needed to be clarified or mentioned, causing this film to raise a couple of questions. What is fascinating is the question of how the oil industry has had an effect on the politics and culture of the Arab lands and that is something that could have been explored further. Or Noir is undoubtedly a film with a great epic story, but with a bitter taste. My final rating for this movie is a 7/10.

It's not a great movie, but it's very entertaining and well done. I had it on, but didn't plan on paying much attention to it. However, I found it to be quite engaging and entertaining.

I remember when Lawrence of Arabia came out, long ago. The most stunning things about it were Peter O'Toole, the haunting music, and the hard won shots of the desert. I would have traded it all to learn the details of desert warfare, but it failed to do more than offer a glimpse. Instead it wallowed in Lawrence's tortured mind to little purpose, creating a deeply dissatisfying movie. Now, years later, my antidote has come in the form of a real story, the kind I longed for as a kid, but seldom found.

If you consider the people of the Arabian desert savage, superstitious barbarians, you won't be able to enjoy this movie. But if you can suspend your prejudice long enough to be convinced, they do a fine job of conveying how a totally foreign and ancient culture can make more than a little sense in today's world.

Is it all fantasy, these unusually noble men with their deep distrust of western values? I doubt it. There are always ineffable things about a people's true dreams and character that have little to do with their actual history, that can only really be expressed in art. If I were Arab I'd be very happy to see a movie like this about how my forefathers reacted to the first oil wells and the riches they promised.

The lead, Tahar Rahim, is spot on as the bookish Prince Auda, turned fighter. His father Mark Strong as the Sultan Amar has some of the best lines and is a strong and welcome presence throughout. Antonio Banderas worked for me as Emir Nesib and I admire his entire career. There's no doubt in my mind he was fully committed to this movie though some apparently found his performance distracting; I did not. As others have pointed out, Freida Pinto and Liya Kebede, as the female leads, are both fairly wasted here though there's something true about how minor their roles are given this is mostly a story about change, war and father-son relations.

No, I might forever be labeled a low brow for writing this, but I enjoyed this film much more than I did the highly acclaimed Lawrence of Arabia. This is a far more earnest and effecting film and deserves a great deal more praise than it's likely to get in the west given our politics. That's truly a shame as we could use a little sympathy and insight into these people.

When Ibn Saud captured Mecca, it is said that he personally chopped off the head of the defeated governor, and tossed it over the city wall.

Such a fate would be deserved by the screenwriter.

It is hard to know what to make of this beautifully filmed train wreck of a story. The one thing that is clear is that no one involved had ever seen an oil well, nor had any idea what the Middle East was like in an ill defined period in the early 20th century.

The anachronistic technical bits in the film came thick and fast - planes jumped from WWI biplanes to, unless I am mistaken, a late 1930s German Storch - cars went from Model-Ts to late 1930s Packards. Oil was produced, but there was no visible way to get it from the four, pokey wells to anywhere it could be used, no pipeline, no trucks - apparently the director thought that just producing the oil is enough to make you rich. Typical of a French intellectual like the director.

And the behavior of ALL the characters was so wildly at odds with the Arab world as to verge on farce. At one point there is the suggestion that there might be some Koranic mechanism for a wife divorcing her husband. Other cultural references mainly involved women's veils.

The turgid and strained dialog would have mortified a first year drama student. Antonio Bandaras and Mark Strong must have decided that the only solution was to chew scenery whenever possible and perhaps the whole effort would become camp. Both did what they could with the feeble screenplay, but that was not much.

There was a cartoon Texan, as well, although his role, outside of being a hate figure, was never wholly clear. The story is (VERY) loosely based on Saudi Arabia, but given imaginary names, but somehow there is no reference to the British, who really ran that part of the globe until WWII. Note to the writer at the end, in the 1930s, even Texaco was headquartered in New York City, not Houston. Pre air conditioning, Houston was quasi uninhabitable for half the year.

It only cost me £2 to rent it, but I still want my £2 back.

Jean-Jacques Annuad's wannabe epic The Day of the Falcon (also known as Black Gold) feature's some of the most bizarre and downright idiotic casting choices ever committed to celluloid and due to this ruins any chance the movie had at being a sweeping tale of love, family and war in the barren lands of early nineteenth century Arabia.

The Day of the Falcon is a suitably large scale looking film with a huge budget handed to it by its Saudi Arabian backers but money must have been thrown in the majority at its world spanning cast who look like lost souls in a movie that would've been much more suited casting locals as to not distract from what is essentially a ripe storyline. A Prophet breakout star Tahar Rahim fairs best in the cast but from him it's all horribly downhill. We have a Spaniard (Banderas), a cockney Englishman (Strong) and a clearly Indian (Pinto) filling out the cast of natives. No amount of makeup or costume design can hide the fact that these people are in no way shape or form from this country which really is insulting to both the story and the audiences. These casting mistakes are made all the more hard to swallow when Annaud's film showcases select scenes that make one think they are watching a better movie.

Annuad has shown promise behind the camera before with Enemy at the Gates one of the more enjoyable guilty pleasures of the last decade or so and here again proves to have a good eye for the large scale detail, but within the film those scenes are few and far between with a seemingly intense finale playing out far too quickly and characters never truly making a mark on the audience. The film certainly looks pretty in a sandy type of way and the period of history in which the film takes place makes it a more intriguing prospect than it deserves to be but that's in no way a selling point.

Day of the Falcon was an almighty flop the world over and a film that has rightfully been passed over by many film lover. It's good to see up and coming actor Tahir Rahim take lead in a picture of this scale and he is a shining light in an otherwise pointless movie that proves to those in the business that casting name actors at the expense of believability is a big mistake.

1 and a half miscast foreign actors out of 5

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Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud Set in the 1930s Arab states at the dawn of the oil boom, the story centers on a young Arab prince torn between allegiance to his conservative father and modern, liberal father-in-law (plot), it is the highest budget Arabian related film since LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) and was one of the most anticipated film events in the international film community this season, despite the hype, however, the film was met with mixed reviews after the press screening and premier. Expectations were high and while many were left dissatisfied, others rated it a smashing success as it apparently followed the book to a tee, I have not read the book so perhaps I am missing something, but being that I have seen a number of impressive films of late that were made for under the $1 million mark, BLACK GOLD felt like a significant letdown with its $55 million production price-tag and lackluster deliverance.

The highlight of the film was a fantastic performance by lead role Tahar Rahim (A PROPHET, 2009), his soulful eyes and magnetic vulnerability can work in any film whether speaking or just looking into the camera sans dialogue. Mark Strong also plays a great bearded royal Arabian Sultan Amar, even though he speaks with a distinguishable British accent. The roles that threw the film off were those of Antonio Banderas and Freida Pinto. It is almost impossible to watch Banderas play Bedouin Sheik Nassib without constantly being reminded that he is, in fact, Antonio Banderas. Freida Pinto lends the film her stunning Indian looks as Princess Leyla, but unfortunately her dialogue consists of cliché one-liners that might have saved the movie if not uttered; of course bad film writing is bad writing however delivered.

3,5/5