Gold on the big screen: a film tip

Over the course of the more than 6,000 years during which the human race has known and used gold, it has never been reduced solely to the role of a means of payment or investment. Gold has influenced countless highly developed cultures and continues to be an integral part of our everyday life to this very day. Because there is no defining and restricting our own fascination with the precious metal, we decided to broaden our horizon and, every now and then, will publish articles focusing on the cultural aspects of gold on this website.

In 1981, Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughy), born to a dynasty of gold prospectors, takes over the grandfather-founded Washoe Mining Corporation. Within a few years, the dreamer with little talent for business drives the family business to ruin. Chain-smoking, alcohol-dependent and overweight, Wells gets a second chance to grab his share of the American dream when he learns about a huge gold deposit in Indonesia. Teaming up with a shady geologist, he mobilizes his last finances and energies... and actually succeeds. Practically overnight, he becomes fabulously wealthy. But with the new-found fortune, problems come flooding in through various greedy interest groups, and the corrupt Indonesian government clan proves to be almost harmless compared to the sharks awaiting him on Wall Street...Gold (USA 2016), a blend of adventure movie, drama, financial thriller, social satire and black comedy, was directed by Oscar-winner Stephen Gaghan. It offers a thoroughly interesting storyline based on actual events while holding some surprises for the viewer. In addition to Gaghan, who has secured his outstanding reputation in Hollywood directing films such as Syriana and Traffic, it is the performance of leading actor Matthew McConaughy which really stands out, giving new meaning to the term "method acting". Having shed 23 kg for his Oscar-winning role as an AIDS patient in Dallas Buyers Club, he packed on the punds for his role in Gold, parading his newly-won potbelly throughout the film. Gold may not quite reach the class of Wolf of Wall Street, which stylistically plays in the same league, but the film is absolutely worth seeing – not just for gold lovers. The trailer for Gold  will give you a first impression of what to expect.

Arnulf Hinkel

> Watch the trailer on Youtube