Chichester Cinema at New Park
Black Gold
Set in the 1930s Arab states at the dawn of the oil boom, the story centres on a young Arab prince torn between allegiance to his conservative father and modern, liberal father-in-law.
‘Black Gold’ is an epic film set in the desert during the 1920s. Concerned with the rivalry between Arab clans in the Middle East caused by oil exploitation, the film is predominantly about the age-old conflict between tradition and progress. Themes about power and control permeate through Black Gold, with many of the characters willing to die for a land that was just thought to be a worthless desert.
As the hero, Tahar Rahim (‘A Prophet’) plays a prince torn between two fathers; his biological father played by Mark Strong and Amar, (Antonio Banderas) the man who raised him as one of his. The film resonates with a more modern vision of the Arab world, rather than any particular British angle or reference to colonialism.
The issue here, or rather the core of the fight, is the ‘gold’ that is oil and the battle between Arab and Arab (the only ‘western’ presence in the film is an American from a Texan oil company who is only a passive witness). It’s a story that will have an impact for the audience today and could potentially change the perception of the Arab world in some western minds. Shot in Tunisia, this is even more contemporary since the emergence of the ‘Arab Spring’. (In English)
France · 
Italy · 
Tunisia · 2011 · Jean-Jacques Annaud · 130min
