Diamonds are evil!!!! (Blood Diamond (DVD))

Member Name: MrTink12

Product:	Blood Diamond (DVD)
Date:	01/03/07 (222 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: DiCaprio and Hounsou provide standout-acting performances, highlights genuine African problems

Disadvantages: Too long, love story is uninteresting

“Blood Diamond can be recommended…[as] a thoroughly entertaining movie”


Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai (2003)) directs a film dealing with conflict diamonds in Africa. Despite falling short of actually winning, you may have seen that Blood Diamond was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Actor and Best Editing. Therefore although being acclaimed, the main question we will address is whether this is a movie worth watching.


--------The Storyline--------
Blood Diamond is set in the 1999 Sierra Leone civil war. The film begins with African rebels (the Revolutionary United Front) attacking a village, killing and maiming many innocent civilians, destroying homes and separating families. Separated from his wife and children, noble fisherman Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is forced by these rebels to work in the diamond fields. One day he finds the largest pink diamond imaginable (100-carat no less), and successfully hides it. Zimbabwean diamond smuggler and mercenary Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) overhears mention of this hidden treasure whilst in jail. Being an opportunist, he wants the diamond as a way to leave the African Continent for good. After tracking Vandy down, Danny states that in exchange for the precious stone he will use his contacts to ensure the safe return of Vandy’s family.


--------My opinions--------
This is a film that does contain some strong violence, none of which feel out of place or over the top. Any kind of war is disgusting, and Blood Diamond realistically uses fighting scenes and rebels chopping off hands to illustrate this gloomy point. The action scenes are visually impressive and attention grabbing, with many explosions and plenty of bullets being fired in all directions. Linked to this point is that some of the landscapes shot are truly mesmerizing, and full credit must be given to the director for this achievement.

Moreover Blood Diamond is an undeniably thought provoking motion picture. Showcasing how diamonds are smuggled out of a war-torn country, and the proceeds used to buy new weaponry is a very sad reality. Furthermore, young children being indoctrinated to become soldiers carrying machineguns, provides a powerful message. Viewers will be left feeling how tragic a situation it is that there are these children in Africa who kill without a shred of remorse, and all their innocence has vanished. Personally I felt compelled to find out additional information on the issues raised, and if others who watch Blood Diamond follow suit then the film has achieved something.

Lets now discuss the acting performances. I will start off by saying that DiCaprio does a great job, and his Leading Role Oscar nomination was definitely justified. Some people have slated DiCaprio’s South African accent for a lack of authenticity. Personally I felt that the accent was fine, and DiCaprio managed to maintain it throughout the film, something undoubtedly we should praise. DiCaprio is completely convincing as a selfish person who does not really care for the plight of Vandy’s family. Hence anyone who thought this actor was nothing more than a pretty face, you are very much mistaken.

In my opinion, Hounsou also provides a tremendous overall acting performance and was most deserving of his Best Supporting Role Oscar nomination. It is such a believable performance, in which his actions are those you would expect from a man separated from his loved ones and willing to literally do anything to be reunited with them. Assisting Danny and Vandy is American journalist Maddy Bowen, played by Jennifer Connelly, looking for a major scoop to highlight the conflict diamonds issue. Unlike the aforementioned actors her performance will be winning no awards anytime soon. Although not Connelly fault, some of Maddy’s dialogue is appalling and the role so limited that the performance can do no better than be rated average.


--------Critical comments--------
In terms of criticisms I would have to say that the film unquestionably drags towards the end. Many scenes could have been shortened/omitted to avoid this. For example, without spoiling anything, one scene, which is trying to provide humour to proceedings, feels particularly cheesy and screams of ‘include in deleted scenes section of the DVD, not in the main film’. Director Zwick obviously felt formulaic final scenes would appeal to the mass market. On this he seems correct as the film has achieved great success at the box office, but in terms of creating a film that will be remembered for years to come, he unfortunately fails. What's more, I also did not particularly like the relationship between Danny and Maddy, and the cliché wll-they-won’t-they-get-together storyline running through the film. Quite frankly this has been done to death in so many other films, that I would have preferred focus solely on the reasons why conflict diamonds are ghastly.


--------Final comments--------
All things considered I would say Blood Diamond can be recommended; just do not expect to watch a classic. This is a film that succeeds in making us think, as well as being a thoroughly entertaining movie. Blood Diamond is most definitely flawed, but because of its many redeeming qualities it is worth watching. Overall I would the rate the film with a very healthy seven out of ten. If Blood Diamond sounds like a movie that would appeal to you, it can (at the time of writing) be watched in cinemas nationwide.


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Technical Details:
Certificate: 15 and over
Duration: 2 hours 23 minutes
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Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed

Summary: For the most part a very good movie!