Blood Diamond

Rating: 6/10 (6 August 2007)

From director Edward Zwick (Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai) this is quite a gripping action thriller with controversial imagery and realistic situations. Based in 1999, Sierra Leone, the film sees fisherman Solomon Vandy (Amistad's Oscar nominated Djimon Hounsou) dreams that his son, Dia Vandy (Kagiso Kuypers) will grow to be a doctor, but this is shattered when rebels invade his village, and kidnap him and his family. He is forced to work in the diamond mines, and it is there that he comes across a huge pink diamond, and he managed to hide it just before being arrested by the government army. It is in the jail that diamond smuggler Danny Archer (Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Leonardo DiCaprio, with a slightly confusing accent) from Zimbabwe overhears his find, and releases Soloman proposing to help him find his family in return for finding the diamond. Using American journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) they manage to find Soloman's wife Jassie (Benu Mabhena) in a refugee camp, but he finds out his son has been recruited by the rebels. Danny and Soloman then start their journey, Soloman concentrating on finding his son more than the diamond, Danny the diamond and redemption (the diamond will help him get away). They do eventually find the rebels, and this is when Danny arranges his "friend" Colonel Coetzee (The Mummy's Arnold Vosloo) to send an army to take them out, and when they find Dia, he has almost been brainwashed to hate his Dad. In the end, they find the diamond, Danny gives up after being shot, talking on the phone to Maddy in his last moments, and Soloman goes to London with the diamond to represent the rebel situation in his country. Also starring Antony Coleman as Cordell Brown, Anointing Lukola as N'Yanda Vandy, David Harewood as Captain Poison, Basil Wallace as Benjamin Kapanay, Jimi Mistry as Nabil, The Queen's Michael Sheen as Simmons, Marius Weyers as Van De Kaap, Stephen Collins as Ambassador Walker and Ntare Mwine as M'Ed. The imagery of black children forced to kill their own people is disturbing (I only heard of that kind of stuff on Comic Relief), DiCaprio as the anti-hero and Hounsou as the desperate father are both worthy Oscar nominees, the action is gripping, the only bad things that can be said is that it was typical to see the anti-hero give up easily when getting shot and one or two moments of only okay sentimentality, but besides that it is a good thought-provoking film. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. Leonardo DiCaprio was number 94 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars. Good!