A movie deserving a wide audience

Rating: 7/10 (4 December 2006)

BLOOD DIAMOND is before everything else a movie full of good intentions. It is probably the type of history that will bother and teach in someway to everybody.
Solomon (Djimon Hounsou) is a pacific and innocent African native that trying to protect his family is captured by rebels and forced to work in a diamond mine. After witness several atrocities in the name of freedom and diamonds, Solomon finds a huge one and decides to keep it for himself (probably as a way to protect or recover his family); he is discovered in the intent and almost killed but saved the last minute by an enemy (or government army) attack. Danny (Leo di Caprio) on the other side is a white African mercenary doing weapon trade (for diamonds of course). Circumstances somewhat difficult to believe put these two on the road Solomon trying to get back his family and Danny the huge diamond.
This light and sometimes forced storyline is used to cross over several African countries and see atrocities of every kind between Black African's native; and a few by White people. The images are so strong, that if do not feel at least some guilt seeing a diamond; it is just because you are blind or has strange life values or beliefs.
It is true that white men created the huge mess in Africa; but it is also true that local corruption was (and is) the hand pressing the trigger. There are too many to blame for Africa's recent and not so recent history and the movie excels showing the cruelty behind it and even the absurdity of all that.
However, the movie with all its good intentions is far from perfect. Perhaps shortening certain scenes and avoiding the ALL American moral ending could make the movie far better and do not diminish the impact of what you just saw; but as many movies intended to create some shock BUT NOT TOO MUCH, it almost implies that even when Americans consume 75% of world diamonds, they will never do it if they knew where they came from.
Let's see how truth is in this statement.