One of My Bests Films on Netflix: Rough Diamonds

 

I am watching movies on Netflix for over 5 years, but until now, I haven´t encountered any other better series in terms of both actors play and authenticity of the topic as Rough Diamonds. Set in the famous and most secretive Diamond District of Antwerp, it follows the fate of the Wolfson Jewish family, whose fate was shuttered by the sudden suicide of one of the sons. As Noah - remarkably played by famous Belgian film and theatre actor Kevin Janssens -  returns from his self-imposed exile from London, a chain of events is put into motion that may save the company but jeopardize the traditional way of doing businesses.

The series, created by Israeli Rotem Shamir and Yuval Yefet (of Fauda) is remarkable from more than one reason. First and foremost, it presents a Jewish family caught between the traditional life and the new challenges of the business in a balanced, authentic way. Noah, a classical off the derech, does not have anything from the deep cartoonish hate of his upbringing often represented in movies and other media productions, and his family does not reject him fully, as usually expected. He is returning with a non-Jewish son, being welcomed with human kindness although trying hard to overcome the resentfulness of those left behind - among which a fiancée that later married his late brother. 

Another important part of this movie is the knowledgeable way in which it describes the current state of affairs in the diamond industry, from the hard games of the new comers from India to the almost death of traditional small diamantaires, as the Wolfson, and temptations of playing out of the legal game. Diamond industry, the pride and sometimes the legal nightmare of Belgium, does play on different terms and does definitely have its very black secrets. Rough Diamonds does not spare any single romanticism trying to display it as it really is.

Rough Diamonds is a great Jewish movie to watch on Netflix this season. It has eight shorter than one hour episodes that I literarally binged the last weekend. It´s worth watching it for the action, genuine story and the good play of almost all the actors.