Leonardo DiCaprio Stars in Blood Diamond 2006
A Mercenary Searches for one of the Rarest Stones in the World
Oct 30, 2009
The title Blood Diamond refers to diamonds that are mined in African war zones and used to finance conflicts, as wells as profit warlords and diamond companies around the world. The film was nominated for 5 Oscars including Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Supporting Actor for Djimon Hounsou. Blood Diamond was directed by Edward Zwick (who also directed The Last Samurai), and is set during the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1999.
Welcome to the Warzone
Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is a fisherman who is kidnapped by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels when they invade his small Sierra Leonian village of Shenge. He is forced to work in the diamond fields under the command of a Warlord called Captain Poison (David Harewood). It is here that Vandy finds and hides a rare pink diamond. Government forces attack the camp and Vandy, along with a wounded Poison, are taken to prison. Meanwhile Vandy’s son Dia (Kagiso Kuypers) is conscripted into the rebel forces where he is eventually brainwashed into becoming a hardened killer.
Elsewhere, a white Rhodesian mercenary named Danny Archer (DiCaprio) is arrested and imprisoned for attempted to smuggle diamonds into neighbouring Liberia. In prison he hears Poison accusing Vandy of hiding the rare diamond, Archer is released and gets Vandy out of prison too. The mercenary makes Vandy a deal, if he helps him find his family and his son, then Vandy surrenders the diamond to him.
Along the way the pair encounters Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist who helps them search for Vandy’s family. But Bowen also learns that Archer is after the diamond and warns Vandy that he may simply steal the diamond and leave Africa forever.
Oscar Worthy Performances
Djimon Hounsou is an excellent actor that has been nominated for 2 Academy Awards. Here his performance is as magnificent as ever, the audience will be drawn into the sorrow of Vandy’s situation, and the moment when his son aims a gun at him will make even the most hardened cinema goer reach for the tissues.
Leonardo DiCaprio also gives a fine performance; his accent does waver on occasion but he can be forgiven for those momentary lapses because he is otherwise a fine actor. The supporting cast are on top form, with Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly acting as a horrified outsider and a voice of reason for Archer. The main three stars are supported by the excellent Harewood as the vicious warlord Poison, and the young Kagiso Kuypers as Vandy’s son who is slowly brainwashed into becoming a killer.
The film is based in fact and deals with the issue of ‘conflict’ or ‘blood’ diamonds. It was released during a time in which there was an upsurge in mass media which focussed on the conflict-diamond trade and Sierra Leone. Making films about actual conflicts happening in other countries will always have an impact on audiences who would rather not see what is taking place half a world away.
Edward Zwick is an excellent director who knows how to make his point and coax the best performances from his skilled cast. He knows exactly when to show violence, when to show tenderness, and when to show heartbreak. The moment when Vandy finally finds his family in a refugee camp, and his joy is quickly replaced by horror as his wife tells him that his son has been taken by the rebels, is truly heart wrenching. The audience shares his pain as he bellows at the world and yet no one outside the camp seems to care.
9/10
All in all Blood Diamond is an excellent film with a superb cast that are all on top form and should not be missed.
