Black Gold: Film Review

After tackling Southeast Asian tigers, Tibetan monks and Neolithic tribesmen

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globetrotting director Jean-Jacques Annaud sets his sights on the Middle East and the rise of the modern oil industry with the historical epic, Black Gold. Yet despite a subject whose geopolitical repercussions are especially pertinent in light of both 9/11 and the Arab Spring, there is something all too old fashioned and benign about this glossy desert peplum, whose casting of (mostly) non-Arab stars posing as Arabs seems out of touch with current tastes. A decent lead turn by Tahar Rahim, and a few spectacular set-pieces, will help Gold reap moderate global returns for Warner Bros.

Set somewhere in Arabia (the film was actually shot in Tunisia and Qatar) presumably during the 1930s,Black Gold charts the expansion of oil mining in the region, revealing the nefarious effect it has on two rival sultans:the progressive profiteer, Nesib (Antonio Banderas), and the Muslim traditionalist, Amar (Mark Strong). Following years of tranquility resulting from a pact whereby Amars two sons the studious Auda (Rahim) and the hotheaded Saleh (Akin Gazi) are entrusted to Nesib as a sort of guarantee, the latters choice to team up with an American prospector (Corey Johnson) to dig wells in a neighboring territory sets off a series of skirmishes, tearing the otherwise peaceful tribes apart.Caught between his forward-thinking foster father,

and his prideful and skeptical biological father (To be an Arab is to be a waiter at the banquet of the world, remarks Amar), Auda is pushed to take the reigns of a small insurrection, making the transformation from an introverted bookworm to a crafty and courageous freedom fighter. Along the way, he tries to hold on to his marriage to Nesibs beautiful daughter, Leyla (Freida Pinto),

a character whose dramatic impact is severely reduced by the fact that she spends most of the movie confined to a desert boudoir.

Yet following in the wake of recent oil flicks like Syriana and There Will Be Blood whose attention to realism and period detail felt ripe for contemporary times Annauds fairytale-ish approach to the material makes it hard to grasp the Black Gold film contemporary relevance, turning what could have been a topical historical expos into an often kitschy parade of horses, camels and colorful costumes.The fact that Banderas has been cast here as an Arabian sheik doesnt help matters much, and sophisticated audiences may have a hard time him seriously as the money-hungry, Westernized Nesib. Ditto for the Indian-born Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), who plays a Middle Eastern for the second time since Julian Schnabels Miral,and offers up one of the movies more risible scenes when Leyla performs a very PG-rated striptease on her wedding night.

Although Rahim doesnt exactly hail from the region hes convincing enough as the initially confused, and then firmly resolute, Prince Auda. Not unlike his portrayal of the prisoner-cum-crime lord in Jacques Audiards A Prophet,Rahim has a knack for playing characters who evolve from cowering boys into shrewd tough guys, and his story arc works better than any of the political metaphors Annaud may have been trying to dish out. Shot in sun-drenched widescreen by Patrice Leconte regular Jean-Marie Dreujou,the film does provide a certain albeit highly retro epic charm, and the sweeping desert vistas, scores of camels, tanks and extras, feel like they belong to one of those Hollywood super-productions of the 50s or 60s.The fact that producer Tarak Ben Ammar is quoted in the press notes making reference to Lawrence of Arabia is telling as to why Black Gold Movie ultimately feels at least half a century past its expiration date.

by: william levi

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