Director/writer Jean-Jacques Annaud is not a newcomer, in fact, he's the director of such great films as 'The name of the Rose', 'Seven Years in Tibet' and 'Enemy at the Gates', to name a few; so the movie was well worth considering in my opinion. The movie is based the novel 'Arab' by Hans Ruesch, a born storyteller, according to The New York Times Book Review; looking up the life story of Ruesch, I was even more fascinated and thus chose to watch it. It did not hurt a bit that Mark Strong and Freida Pinto were starring in the flick; I like both of them. In the case of Antonio Banderas, he's in so many movies, some I don't care for but others I very much enjoyed (The Skin I live In, Haywire) lately, I don't tend to dismiss his participation as it may be too easy to do.I was not familiar with the lead actor, Tahar Rahim, but if Annaud picked him, it was for good reason. He delivered a splendid performance of his character Prince Auda. That character is a much more likable one then that of Lawrence (in Lawrence of Arabia), both of whom are shown to be historical figures, one, a real person, the other a fictional one. I would not attempt to make comparisons between the two films, that would be ludicrous; but it does not take away the beauty I saw in 'Black Gold' a.k.a. 'Day of the Falcon'.I won't, repeat or write up a new description of the story, as the IMDb full storyline is quite on point; so I refer you to it. I will, however, add that the lead character, Prince Auda is depicted as a unifying force, as was Lawrence, but in a diametrically different way, and that made the whole story stand on its own. Auda is the opposite of brutal, he is considerate, and it takes just as much will and courage to be one as it does the other.Annaud does a fine job of conveying the harshness of the desert life, as well as David Lean did for the classic tale. Thankfully, in 'Black Gold' there is a female character of some significance, that of Princess Leyla, played by Freida Pinto, a stunningly beautiful and also wise princess, daughter of Emir Nesib, played by Antonio Banderas. Auda is one of Sultan Amar's two sons. Amar, played by Mark Strong, is arch-rival of Nesib, and also the smarter of the two, though not one with as much foresight as either his son Auda or Nesib himself. I was most pleased with the development of the story and the final outcome. I hope you too will be.

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.

A beautiful existential film that is unlike most modern spoon-fed reality TV motion pictures, the film addresses core cultural differences in "what is of value"; which goes right to the heart of the World's problems. Yes, the dialog of the main love-interest of the Protagonist comes off in cliché's; but the other woman does not, so I don't think it's the writer. The rest of the dialog is amazing, and over-all the screenplay keeps a Falcon-eyed view of various belief systems at play, portrayed brilliantly by each character, but without judging. I, for one, find this more important than the 'reality' of the airplane or the accents. Story has recently been sacrificed to the god of reality and accuracy, and as the great film critic Pauline Kael said: 'Good Movies are rarely perfect movies." This film had mythological elements to it, and spiritual. I am so happy to have found it among the overwhelming amount of horror, violence, and stupid films lining the shelves of Hollywood.

The script is like a bad Disney production with cartoon largely inaccurate versions of Arabic Muslim culture and the history it is supposed to represent (history of arabian peninsula during 20s and 30s).It is a formula imbecilic action/war movie basically a paint by numbers picture designed to beguile stupid audiences.At 55 million what a waste of money.... I hope they actually didn't kill any camels or other animals to make this trash.Some of the actors aren't bad but the SCRIPT! However what is with the accents? I thought it was dubbed for the first 15 minutes--still not positive it wasn't!I went to school with Tarak Ben Ammar the producer in Tunis. He would know better about the script's authenticity....it is simply some cynical attempt to make money. I didn't find the production values that good frankly it is almost B quality with a few hundred extras and some digital wizardry....I doubt the 55 million some of it must have gone into various pockets.DO NOT RECOMMEND