T.I.A.---------- This Is Africa

Rating: 10/10 (1 July 2009)

One of the best films of the new century so far, Blood Diamond is both great action entertainment and a searing indictment of the exploitation of the African continent even years after the imperial European powers left their colonial possessions to fend for themselves. Africa, a continent wealthy in mineral resources with its peoples reduced to poverty at the mercy of tribal rivalries now armed with the automatic weapons of the former imperialists.
By the title you guess that what people are after are diamonds which is a trade to be sure that has its international regulations. It also has people willing to skirt and ignore those regulations in pursuit of the almighty profit. The brokers be they in London, New York, or Amsterdam pay plenty of money under the table for the gems which then finance various 'revolutionary' groups who have this game going with the governments. They don't really want to take power as Leonardo DiCaprio explains to journalist Jennifer Connelly because then they'd have to govern the country. Better just to keep the revolution going, get bought off until the rulers get rich enough and just go into exile and the revolutionaries are stuck with it. No Nelson Mandelas among this crowd. And the poor as typified by fisherman Djimon Hounsou suffer.
Chance and happenstance throw Hounsou in jail with Leonardo DiCaprio, a mercenary. Hounsou found and buried a large diamond the size of a bird's egg. DiCaprio learns of it when they're in jail together and the two make an alliance of convenience when there is a rebel attack and they're freed from prison. The bulk of the story concerns the two of them trying to retrieve that diamond to get out of Africa and on to a more settled life in Europe and/or America.
DiCaprio and Hounsou were nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively. In different categories to be sure so they would not kill each other off in the voting. Sad to say neither of them won and that is a pity because I think they both deserved it.
Hounsou is best known as the slave leader Cinque who overtook the crew of the Amistad in that film and he also got an Oscar nomination for that film. As for Leonardo DiCaprio, for me this is the best film he's been in so far in his career. His character is absolutely flawless.
DiCaprio is from Rhodesia and lest one thing that whites did not suffer in the changing sub Saharan Africa of the last half of the last century when he tells his story to Jennifer Connelly, you will graphically realize why DiCaprio is the hard case he is. After about five or six generations of settlers there, DiCaprio felt Africa was his home as well. You will empathize with that point of view after that scene.
Blood Diamond got Oscar nominations for Sound and for Film Editing. Sadly it did not win anything that year. And it is beyond belief it was not considered for Best Picture.
There's enough action to satisfy those fans, but the real essence of Blood Diamond is the story it tells both of an exploited Africa and of the alliance/friendship of DiCaprio and Hounsou. Don't miss this one at all.