Blood Diamond

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Blood Diamond (2006)

Genre: Drama/Thriller

Director: Edward Zwick

Certificate: Blood Diamond was rated 15A by the Irish Film Censor's Office (www.ifco.ie) i.e. suitable for those of 15 years of age or upwards. Persons under 15 must be accompanied by an adult.

Violence = strong. Drugs = none. Sex/Nudity = mild. Language = strong.

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Blood Diamond

Review

I have to say, hand-on-heart, with the exception of the Last Samurai I have never been a fan of Zwick's attempts at directing, but this film is a noble effort at last. Set in war torn Sierra Leone in the late nineties, there are several stories intertwined, but essentially it is about two men who hold power over each other for slightly different reasons - Danny Archer (Leonardo Di Caprio) a loner and a mercenary who is heavily involved in the illicit diamond trade, and Solomon Vandy (Dijimon Hounsou) a simple fisherman who when captured by the rebel forces during a chaotic and bloody raid on his village is cruelly torn away from his family and forced to work in the diamond fields.

Through a twist of fate Solomon is recaptured by the army and Danny gets to hear that he has mined a rare diamond that Solomon has hidden away in the hope that it will help him be re-united with his family. So he strikes a deal with Solomon that they split the proceeds and he'll help him find his family if he takes him to the diamond. Enter Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) an idealistic journalist who is chasing a story about what they call “conflict diamonds” she makes a connection with Danny and agrees to help the two men if she in turn gets a 'meaty' story for her paper. Hence the journey begins with each of them in it for different reasons. It has some harrowing scenes of violence and the atrocities that are carried out by both sides are almost unbearable to watch at times, it makes life look so cheap, and the sight of a child carrying an automatic weapon is always one that personally makes me shudder and you do see a lot of it here.

This film is making statements - statements about big business, corruption, greed, and how the western world sometimes views Africa. Di Caprio has come a long way since Titanic and every time he is on screen he dominates. This is a mature and well crafted performance with wonderful support from all concerned.

Blood Diamond Double-sided poster
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Unlike Hotel Rwanda which took a retrospective look at what happened when two factions clashed, this problem is still on going to a certain extent and if this film highlights it well I'm all for it. And the final irony of it all, of course, was Solomon's idea of treasure was just to be re-united with his family, whilst everyone else was totally consumed with finding the diamond itself. It speaks volumes about us human beings doesn't it?

Close to two and a half hours long it didn't drag one bit, I was hoping the ending would go the way I thought it should have, and it did. I left the cinema feeling I had been really entertained, though my conscience was pricked by the old entertained at the expense of other people's misery dilemma, however that aside well worth the trip.

Reviewed by Mary Kate, Premier Movie Reviews 2007.

RELATED MOVIE REVIEWS: EDWARD ZWICK: The Last Samurai. LEONARDO DICAPRICO: Catch Me If You Can, Gangs Of New York, The Aviator, The Departed. DJIMON HOUNSOU: In America, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life. JENNIFER CONNELLY: A Beautiful Mind.

Main Cast

Leonardo Dicaprio

Djimon Hounsou

Jennifer Connelly

Kagiso Kuypers

Arnold Vosloo

Anthony Coleman

Benu Mabhena

RATING