Exciting, provocative work

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2007)

A searing, violent drama from director Ed Zwick, whose previous essay on a different kind of combat was "The Last Samurai". Danny Archer (Leonardo Di) is a South African opportunist who survives on the edges of Sierra Leone's diamond trade. His loose principles are forced to the surface when he meets Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a simple farmer whose life has been torn apart by the country's civil war. Forced to work in an illegal diamond mine, Vandy discovers a large, rare diamond and manages to bury it for later retrieval. When DiCaprio learns of Vandy's situation, he vows to help him recover the diamond and track down his remaining family members. Despite his star's considerable matinée power, Zwick is not afraid to portray him as a desperado prepared to kill and kill again when necessary. The "blood diamond" of the title refers to the illegal arm of the diamond trade where much blood is spilled and many heads are turned so that the blood diamonds can be traded on the legal market. The film explores the illicit trade and implicates everybody, though it also makes it clear that this is just one sinister aspect of the business. Essentially a bloody adventure with Hollywood production values, "Blood Diamond" does meander ccasionally and risks becoming repetitious. Still, it is an exciting, provocative work.