Blood Diamond

By: Andrew Moran

5 Stars out of 5 Stars

Starring (Alphabetical Order): Stephen Collins, Jennifer Connelly, Leonardo DiCaprio, David Harewood, Djimon Hounsou, Kagiso Kuypers, Michael Sheen & Arnold Vosloo

Set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990's Sierra Leone, Blood Diamond is the story of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) - a South African mercenary - and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) - a Mende fisherman. Both men are African, but their histories as different as any can be, until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives. While in prison for smuggling, Archer learns that Solomon - who was taken from his family and forced to work in the diamond fields - has found and hidden the extraordinary rough stone. With the help of Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist whose idealism is tempered by a deepening connection with Archer, the two men embark on a trek through rebel territory, a journey that could save Solomon's family and give Archer the second chance he thought he would never have.

Blood Diamond is a heart-wrenching, emotional and thought-provoking film, huh? This is the best film of the year, so far, with its only close competition of The Good German and The Good Shepherd.  Blood Diamond is a film with many parts to it.  In other ways this is an Action/Adventure film with heart-pounding action.  In another way this is an emotional thrill ride.  In another way this is a thought-provoking film with many key issues to address. And in another way this is a good way to see the beautiful and the harsh South Africa.

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator & Catch me if you Can) in this film as an African was enjoyable and the personality of the character was great.  Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator & The Island) is a sure lock-in as Best Supporting Actor at the 2007 Academy Awards.  Jennifer Connelly (Requiem for a Dream & Little Children) as the love-interest to Leonardo DiCaprio’s character was also a nice release from the real brutal honesty in this film.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, this film is brutally honest.  This film shows really graphic scenes but also truthful.  Showing how the small young children become Rebel leaders in Africa.  I was amazed at how some scenes really hit me in the gut.  Usually, these types of scenarios are just in the back of our minds and we don’t really think about it at all.  But somehow this film really showed more depth then previous films as Hotel Rwanda and The Constant Gardener.

Director Edward Zwick (Glory & The Last Samurai) did another great job at showing us history as he did with Glory and The Last Samurai, which were also enjoyable. The camera work, during the fight scenes and the scenes when Djimon Hounsou and Leonardo DiCaprio are escaping from the rebels, was absolutely great.  In this case, not to get blurry shots, this was shot on 35mm with 30 frames per second.

The soundtrack was great with the different sets of cultural music and moods mixed with in hip-hop with the rebels.  Also there was a rap song at the end credits talking about the diamonds during this whole fiasco of Sierra Leone of 1999.

The set locations and shots of the scenery were just magnificent.  You had shots of the Kaapstads, suburbs of Cape Town, actual Cape Town and I think Johannesburg.  If you have never seen such places you can check out our Travel Section to see pictures of South Africa.

Overall this was a great film, maybe even the best picture of 2006.  I highly recommend this picture to anyone, huh? I guarantee you will not be disappointed in this film in any way, yeah?