Diamond theft in Antwerp lacks the necessary cutting work

Look over there, Johann Heldenberg! And there: Malcolm McDowell! Rupert Everett! Ferris wheel in ‘t Steenplein! Isn’t that Sint-Paulusplaats over there? For an Italian TV series Everyone loves diamonds It’s nothing less than an eclectic feast of appreciation, especially when a Flemish viewer streams it on Amazon Prime Video. This is because the filmmakers’ aspirations are global and the location is Antwerp.

Everyone loves diamonds Based on a true and well-known story Antwerp diamond theft From 2003. In February of that year, an Italian gang of squatters, led by Leonardo Notarbartolo, broke into the Antwerp Diamond Center on Shopstraat over the weekend and stole around €100 million worth of diamonds.

Arrests were made and the perpetrators were imprisoned. Especially Notarbartolo himself, who was sentenced to ten years in prison and had to pay fines of one million euros in addition to compensation to the owners of the treasuries that were looted. But the majority of the stolen jewelry and diamonds never turned up. This, combined with the crazy details that subsequently emerged about the process, made “Crack of the Century” a dream story for a film adaptation. Oddly enough, an Italian production house only wanted to pick up the project now (with money from Amazon, the only streaming service not monitoring the money at the moment).

The result is something that the filmmakers clearly see as a favorite among Spanish Netflix audiences La casa de papel It’s been watched, but what’s missing is the consistency of that series (or at least its early seasons). Everyone loves diamonds It oscillates rudderlessly between crime thriller and comedy, and handles neither well. It’s a stupid, forced farce, in which the gangsters, as usual in the genre (and in this case sincerely), beat up important people and appeal to their penchant for self-destruction at moments when they should have been on the alert. Equally tense are the moments when the fourth wall is broken. The latter is often done for fun, but some side aspects are also introduced into it, e.g The big shortDifficult technical concepts from the world of diamonds are explained.

For a heist sequence it is Everyone loves diamondsDespite the masterful editing, it is painfully exhausting. The performances, led by Italian Kim Rossi-Stuart, who acts helpless as Notarbartolo, don’t help. A decisive but mercurial diamond, the Johan Heldenberg Diamond is so strange that it is difficult to put a finger on it. Was he doing this on autopilot for the money? Was he aiming for comedic effect? Was the intention to see a character burdened by her own compulsions, somewhat similar to Quinn de Bowes? Professor T on time? Whatever it is, it doesn’t work.

For Italian readers who thanks to our ingenuity Search engine optimizationThe team unexpectedly ended up with this article: “Everybody Loves Diamonds” is both scandalous and humbling.

Available on Amazon Prime Video.