Blood Diamond (2006)

The bigger, the bloodier

I know I am late (nope I'm not talking about period). By the time you read this, you might have realized that Leonardo DiCaprio lost (once again) the Golden Globe Best Actor award to Forest Whitaker. Even with 2 nominations, he was defeated by Whitaker. Tough luck, Leo, better luck at the Oscar. Well, tougher luck for the Africans, and luck has apparently left them.

The African continent is plagued by misfortune after misfortune. We have heard of their uphill battle against AIDS, poverty and famine. And now, thanks to this hell of a movie, we understand another menace; war over diamonds.

As we know, diamonds are precious stones. Indeed they are, right girls? The amount of money generated by these diamonds is huge. When there is a demand, the prices go up. And when the prices go up, people kill each other just to get their hands stuck into the money pie. Everybody wants a piece of the action. Hence, everybody starts to form their own rebellion army and, all of a sudden, everyone is a Colonel.

These self proclaimed Colonels terrorize the people and train children to be their next killing machine. Watching these kids butchering the innocents reminds me of Cidade de Deus. Its not the violence that makes one tick, its watching those juveniles smiling away while pumping lead into people. This film sends out an in-your-face message of such intensity, it is almost impossible to ignore it.

Intense is a key word. It is a good word to describe the cast. DiCaprio performs the tormented protagonist superbly. His role here is similar to the one in The Departed. Both characters are constantly fighting against their demons. While the accent is debatable, his performance is worthy of his Golden Globe Best Actor nomination. Jennifer Connelly is no doubt an excellent actress , but somehow her role is not as challenging as DiCaprio's. Finally, there's Djimon Hounsou. He plays his role of a suffering fisherman well and sometimes its depressing to experience his character's misfortune.

The moral issues completely overshadows the plot. The audiences' conscience is constantly engaged with these social issues.

On a final note, yes, we the consumers can make a difference. How? By ensuring the diamonds we bought are conflict free. Stop the funding and the killing, Africa needs to recuperate.

You want your 'bling bling'? Stop the 'bling bang' first.

3.75
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