A wonderful movie... simply superb

Rating: 9/10 (1 January 2008)

I am a newbie for movie reviews section in IMDb and this is my very first review that I am going to write.
A year ago, this movie was recommended by one of my relatives noting it as "a must see movie". At that time I missed out the opportunity to watch it in theaters and thereafter I just forgot about it. Recently, I came up with a chance in the library to borrow the DVD version of Blood Diamond. I was stunned and amazed by the movie.
The story was reflecting wars and chaos in Africa and how they connect with the luxurious diamonds that only wealthy people could possibly gain access to in the big and developed countries. The film started by introducing you to a normal fisherman family with Soloman Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) as a father and his son Dia. The tragedy started when Soloman was captured by the RUF (the opposing groups in the area) and separated with his family. He came to the realization that the RUF are helping organizations in search for diamonds which they could sell and buy their own necessities and weapons. At the same time, Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCarpio) was an ex-army men and currently a soldier-of-fortune and smuggler of diamonds. He desperately wanted an out from Africa. By coincidence they met and joined together for different goals. Danny for the diamond that Solomon accidentally discovered, and Solomon for Danny's connections to seek his own family. Along the way they met different people such as reporter Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly)and encountered different events. This is a movie full of adventures, actions and catchy dialogs. However this isn't simply an action-packed movie with no substance.
It really did a good job in capturing audience's attentions into the whole issue and the situations in Africa. In the story, the RUF captured Dia and made him a child soldier. You can feel your heart aching when you see really young children holding up guns killing others. The movie did not explicitly discuss this issue but the message was already delivered strongly to the audience. It gives you more thinking into the international relations in the world around us. In addition, it very much aroused our awareness towards the value of buying and keeping luxurious products. Really need to give credits to the director for making such a fine piece.
About the cast, they had a really solid performance. I haven't watched much of DiCarpio's movies and my knowledge about him was somewhat limited to the handsome boy in "Titanic". His performance as a ragged mercenary, Danny Archer, was simply wonderful. His acting completely altered my view of him as just a "pretty boy". Personally his performance was even better than that in "The Departed". I was quite sad in seeing his tragic ending and the words "TIA" kept ringing in my brain when I was watching it. Soloman, Maddy and Dia were crucial in the whole film and I think they did a very good job in delivering the characters across.
Good plot, great cast, nice entertainment and meaningful message carried across. What more can you ask for?