Blood Diamond

[quote] Col. Coetzee: "T-I-A: This Is Africa!"

Saw this movie in the cinema January 26th 2007, for those who are going to see this movie, you better equipped with a little knowledge on the conflicts in Sierra Leone which is the background for this movie. Click here for explanation of the conflict on Wikipedia.

This movie was directed and produced by Edward Zwick. It is starred by Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou.

For the plot I will take it from Wikipedia: [spoiler alert!]

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Set in the civil war of Sierra Leone, the film portrays a country torn apart by a struggle between sides equally vicious and heedless of the suffering of innocent noncombatants.

The film begins with the capturing of Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a fisherman, by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Separated from his family, Solomon is enslaved to work in the diamond fields under the command of Captain Poison (David Harewood). Diamonds mined by the prisoners are used by the RUF to buy arms and finance their efforts.

While working at the diamond fields, Solomon finds a large pink diamond. Moments before the government troops launch an attack, Captain Poison sees Solomon with the diamond. Solomon has just enough time to bury the stone, before being arrested along with Captain Poison and the other rebels.

In prison, Solomon meets Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), an ex-SADF soldier who has been arrested for smuggling diamonds. He was smuggling for a South African mercenary named Colonel Coetzee. Archer is desperate for a way to repay Colonel Coetzee for the diamonds he lost when he was arrested.

When he overhears Captain Poison ranting to Solomon about the discovery of the pink diamond, Archer makes plans to hunt down the stone. He offers to help Solomon find his family in exchange for the diamond. Archer dies at the end of the film, giving the diamond to Solomon to sell in London.

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Okay, enough with the plot and story, now what I wanted to talk about is about how good is this movie? I would give this movie a 4 stars (****) rating, not a must see but a recommended.

Why? The movie is an action packed drama which was brought to us in a well tailored yet captivating plot, so that you will keep watching the movie in 149 minutes of its running time.

I don’t like how Edward Zwick bringing this movie a bit too dramatic in the end, when Archer refuses to go to the plane which will take Vandy and his son to freedom since he is slowing them down and giving them the large-pink diamond that makes him there in the first place. The situations is not enough in bringing a dramatic change of attitude in Archer, though I still like how Edward Zwick did not bring any kissing scene in the movie.

I really have to say something about Leonardo DiCaprio, his acting in this movie was beyond expectation, he also looks better than any of his movies before, more "mercenary" look, and i would say that he succeeded in bringing the South-African-English accent, no wonder he got nominated in the Academy Award for Best Actor. But let's not forget also Djimon Hounsou' acting, he's also good in this movie, I only recall him from Constantine movie with Keanu Reeve as Papa Midnite, he got nominated also in the Academy Award for Best Supporting Role. However, personally I will root for Djimon Hounsou only, I mean Leo's good in this movie but Djimon Hounsou had it better than him...

All in all, it’s a good movie, a bit heavy, but good, see it when you have the time…