Black Gold

Feb 1 2013 R 2h 10m
Action, Drama, History

On the Arabian Peninsula in the 1930s, two warring leaders come face to face. The victorious Nesib, Emir of Hobeika, lays down his peace terms to rival Amar, Sultan of Salmaah. The two men agree that neither can lay claim to the area of no man’s land between them called The Yellow Belt. In return, Nesib adopts Amar’s two boys Saleeh and Auda as a guarantee against invasion. Twelve years later, Saleeh and Auda have grown into young men. Saleeh, the warrior, itches to escape his gilded cage and return to his father’s land. Auda cares only for books and the pursuit of knowledge. One day, their adopted father Nesib is visited by an American from Texas. He tells the Emir that his land is blessed with oil and promises him riches beyond his wildest imagination. Nesib imagines a realm of infinite possibility, a kingdom with roads, schools and hospitals all paid for by the black gold beneath the barren sand. There is only one problem. The precious oil is located in the Yellow Belt.

Official Trailer
Plot

In early-20th-century Arabia, Emir Nesib of Hobeika defeats Sultan Amar of Salma after years of war between their tribes and they make a peace treaty that creates "The Yellow Belt," a large no-man's-land that would separate their lands and would belong to neither of them. Further, Nesib demands that Amar's sons, Saleh and Auda, be raise with his children, Tarik and Leyla, in Hobeika as a guarantee of their agreement. 15 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 rejects 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 and Princess Leyla, who have been in love with each other since childhood, 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 rejects the proposal and decides to fight against Nesib. Now, Prince Auda shall decide on which side he will fight.

Written by

Menno Meyjes, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard

Directed by

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Cast

Tahar Rahim, Antonio Banderas, Mark Strong

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

France, Qatar, Tunisia, Italy

Production Companies

Carthago Films, Prima TV, Quinta Communications, France 2 Cinéma, DFI

Languages

English

Awards

1 nomination

Trailers
Black Gold International Trailer (Day of the Falcon)
Black Gold - Trailer - Official Warner Bros. UK
Scores
# of Votes
13,020
Average Rating
6.6 out of 10
Metascore
32
Popularity
NA