blood diamond

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2013)

Do diamonds cost more than just money? Blood diamonds was released in 2006 and directed by Edward Zwick who has other great works like Shakespeare in Love, Courage under Fire, and the last Samurai. After watching this nerve wrecking film, l was convinced beyond any doubt, and knew that this is more than a simple action-drama entertainment. It was a story that needed to be told. The director not only had a mission to relay a great message, but also strove to enlighten the audience on horrible schemes and systems devastating the third world, particularly where diamonds come from. The film was set in the West African country of Sierra Leone during the 1990s, a time when the county was devastated by their instability because of such things as civil war, warlords, diamond syndicate, killings and enslavement of men forced to work in the diamond fields, and horrific use of children as soldiers. The title purposefully gets the audience expectant, which refers to Diamonds which were harvested, smuggled, and traded illegally to finance the purchase of weapons used in civil war. The director had a talented cast which came up with an imaginative plot together. Amidst all mayhem, pitiful screaming, and gunfire, Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounson), a brave, courageous, family man in the fisherman profession was separated from his family, when the rebel army burned down their village, and sent him to work in a diamond hunting camp. His son Dia Vandy (Kasigo Kuypers), was aggressively captured and was taken to be used as a child soldier. At this point, he was forced to perform unspeakable acts by the ruthless men who had taken him into captivity. Solomon evokes painful emotions of anger and sadness as he swears to reunite with his family again, displaying his affection and everlasting bond between father and son, regardless of the circumstances. In the camp, Solomon discovers a rare priceless pink diamond, and somehow manages to steal and conceal after a violent attack at the mine he was working. Following this, he was forcefully imprisoned. At this point, Danny Archer (Leonardo Dicaprio), a South African Mercenary and diamond smuggler, surfaced into this portion of the movie. Motivated by greed, he was able to adequately portray a ruthless face; one that was determined to stop at nothing in order to achieve the ultimate goal of leaving Africa, it's fascinating to see how his character truly stands out. This is all because his inner self could not stand the horrible things going on in this place that he referred to as uncivilized. When he landed himself in prison for smuggling, he created a bond with Solomon which was solely focused on the rare pink diamond. Solomon was deeply anguished by the fact that his family was close to destitute but still declared his family to be worth more than a diamond. At this point, Solomon's urgency to find his family became very real and stood out. The characters skillfully took on a journey, but their' motives were clouded by their view of the rare stone as a means to accomplish their diverse goals. While Danny Archer was determined to get the diamond from Solomon and make a fortune, Solomon had his sights set on trying to get his family back at whatever cost. The characters embarked upon a gruesome journey that had its way with pushing some towards brutality. Danny Archer began to show a softer side, and as he portrayed a human side he went so far as to promise Solomon to find his family.
One of the more memorable quotes that showed the hope that these people were trying to breathe into a hopeless situation, was from Danny Archer (Dicaprio) saying "sometimes I wonder if God will ever forgive us for whatever we have done to each otherthen l realizeGod left this place long time ago." This brings up the question: Were people such as Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) the voice of hope for this disturbing corruption? Maddy was introduced as an American who joined the efforts of Dicaprio and Hounsou. She was determined to make a change in the world. Upon meeting each other, Maddy and Dicaprio hit it off, and Maddy became very compassionate towards Hounsou as well. The three main characters, because of their intense commitments to their goals, managed to bring an emotional and realistic view of a third world that had been shattering in turmoil. Their determinations and constant run for survival gave the film a powerful storyline. Though the film was intense, violent and was highly inclusive of action, making it also a very unfavorable movie for children, the gripping tension was compelling in and of itself and got viewers to keep watching.
The stunning visual effects and disturbing pictures of children either being kidnapped, killed or in the process of being trained to kill in an effort to have had these young minds molded into front line children soldiers was unbelievably nerve wrecking. Blood diamonds was a great film because of the enormous amount of cinematographic work that was inclusive of scenes that were beautifully photographed and with different African scenes, and the soundtracks were touching the core of the heart for this action movie. From start to finish, blood diamonds was beautiful and managed to push its mission to educate at the same time entertain. Overall, the fact was reinforced that precious diamonds did not have to cost poor innocent lives, and we saw the awareness brought. Blood diamonds challenged me and made me think about not taking life for granted. I highly recommend it for you or anyone else's must-watch list.