The Price of a Diamond Ring

Rating: 9/10 (12 May 2007)

In 1999, in Sierra Leone, the fisherman Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) dreams on the day that his young son Dia Vandy (Kagiso Kuypers) will become a doctor. His dreams are shattered when the rebels invade his village and kidnap him to work in the diamond mines. Solomon finds a huge pink diamond and while hiding it, the commandant of the rebels sees, but the rebels are attacked and Salomon is arrested by the government army. While in jail, the wounded commandant tell the prisoners that Salomon found the stone, and the mercenary smuggler Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) from Zimbabwe releases Salomon and proposes to exchange the diamond by his missing family. Using the idealistic American journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), Danny locates the wife and daughters of Salomon in a refugee camp, but is informed that his son has been recruited by the rebels. Salomon and Danny consolidate a partnership, with Salomon looking for and finding his son, and Danny looking for the diamond and finding redemption.
"Blood Diamond" is a fantastic movie, with a dramatic story full of action, excellent direction of Edward Zwick and stunning performances of Djimon Hounsou, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kagiso Kuypers and Jennifer Connelly. It exposes the sad reality about the economical interests of the powerful nations in the poor Africa and how the news do not disclose this shameful situation to the world, "dedicating one minute in CNN between meteorology and sports" as ironically said by the character of Jennifer Connelly. It is also amazing how a movie like "The Departed" wins the Oscar of Best Film, when "Blood Diamond" is better and better. Unfortunately Edward Zwick is not so well related with Hollywood industry as Martin Scorsese My vote is nine.
Title (Brazil): "Diamante de Sangue" ("Blood Diamond")