Jan 19, 2007 07:32 PM
2001 Views
(Updated Jan 20, 2007 05:47 PM)
The one thing I guarantee is that after watching “Blood Diamond” you will NEVER be able to buy, wear, or even look at diamonds or “bling-blings” (as the Americans call them), without wondering how they were obtained, and knowing where they’ve come from.
DIRECTOR- Ed Zwick (“The Last Samurai”, “Courage Under Fire”, “Glory”)
CAST- Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimonn Hounsou (“Amistad”, “Gladiator”, “In America”), Jennifer Connelly.
PLOT- The time is 1999, Sierra Leone has been torn apart by a civil war since the early 90’s. The people of Sierra Leone have been caught in the crossfire between rebel forces RUF (Revolutionary United Front) and the existing government. And why….because of a struggle for ascendancy over the rich diamond mines there.It’s always like that isn’t it? Be it oil, gold, or diamonds…wherever these resources exist in plenty, that place is destined and cursed to have plenty of bloodshed and loss of human life.
The hero of this story, Solomon Vandy (Djimonn Hounsou) is a local fisherman, a family man full of integrity, whose only goal in life is to bring his children up well and get his oldest son to become a doctor. Solomon is captured by the rebel forces, separated from his family, and forced to work under inhuman conditions at the diamond fields. Those that refuse to work, or are caught stealing, have their hands chopped off by the RUF. Solomon happens to come across a big diamond, which he tries to bury, away from the eyes of his supervisors. Are his actions unobserved?
The other “not so heroic” hero is Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), a cunning resourceful, Rhodesian diamond smuggler. He happens to encounter Solomon in prison and finds out that he has access to the rarest of the rare pink diamond. Danny manages to persuade Solomon to find the diamond he’s hidden and give it to him, in exchange for locating his family, as well as a share of the diamond.
Thus begins a perilous journey, through the war torn territory of Sierra Leone, with a number of people chasing after that elusive diamond. In this melee, there is also an American journalist Maddy (Jennifer Connelly), who helps Danny and Solomon, in the interest of a story. Does Danny get his diamond? Does Solomon get his family back?
MY TAKE- The year 2006 in Hollywood has been the year of action flicks. Be it “Casino Royale”, “The Departed”, or “Blood Diamond", these movies have completely captured the attention of the avid movie-goer. Blood Diamond combines the excitement of an action flick made well, with the human- drama element that was present in films like “Hotel Rwanda”. It is fast-paced, beautifully shot in the wonderful African continent, and has some great actors. Both Djimonn Hounsou and Leonardo turned in stunning performances. I think Leonardo will win the Oscar this year.
The movie is quite violent, has a lot of blood-shed, and gets a bit mawkishly sentimental at the end, but the theme that it is based on seems to justify all of that. I knew that Sierra Leone was a center of conflict way back in the 90’s. But I didn’t bother to find out why. Now I know. I never knew that there were such things as “conflict diamonds” …diamonds obtained illegally, sold cheaply, diamonds that are made from the blood, sweat, and tears of a number of human beings just like me…Now I know.
I was never going to run out and buy diamonds in the first place anyway, (am too broke for that!), but I cant escape the reality that the greedy consumer in me is responsible in part for the horror and bloodshed that exists in the world. It isn’t a comfortable thought, and “Blood Diamond” isn’t a comfortable movie to watch….but it’s a GOOD movie. Go watch it before it runs out of our theatres.
