Black Gold – Or Noir (2011)

Directed by: Jean-Jacques Annaud | 120 minutes | drama, adventure, romance | Actors: Tahar Rahim, Mark Strong, Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Jamal Awar, Lotfi Dziri, Eriq Ebouaney, Mostafa Gaafar, Akin Gazi, Ziad Ghaoui, Corey Johnson, Liya Kebede, Driss Roukhe, Jan Uddin

With the international co-production ‘Black Gold’ we end up on the Arabian Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century. American oil companies find the black gold in the Arabian desert and thus put the already fragile relations between the various kingdoms on edge. To complicate matters, a prince falls in love with a princess and a sultan concocts a cunning plan to take control of the oil fields.

In ‘Black Gold’, the magic of 1001 nights turns into the less magical opulence of petrodollars. The film paints a fairly nuanced picture of the blessing and curse of sudden wealth. We see how an Arab chief uses the oil money to build a school and a hospital, which he then opens with a pair of pure gold scissors.

The message conveyed by the film is one of humanism, wisdom, equality, peace and harmony. That message comes to us in an old-fashioned adventure film in which every now and then there is a lot of fighting, preferably against the backdrop of the Arabian desert. ‘Black Gold’ is set at a time when modernity and antiquity clash. Combat with camels and horses against desert tanks; planes for spying and carrier pigeons for communication. It produces images that are often as beautiful and colorful as they are wonderful.

Less strong are the sketchy characters. A sensitive young prince and his rebellious brother. Rival chieftains. A ridiculously beautiful princess who is nothing more than a ridiculously beautiful princess. The only interesting character is the pained young doctor Ali, played remarkably strongly by Rez Ahmed. Other acting performances range from solid (Tahar Rahim, Mark Strong) to weak (Antonio Banderas, who acts and talks like a villain from a Disney animation).

The fact that ‘Black Gold’ is worth a visit is because the film never bores for a second. It never gets compelling and it’s not really exciting either, but the predictable story is entertaining and the eye hardly gets any rest. And we are happy to receive that message of peace and harmony, especially because it is such a nice game of fighting in the desert.