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Review #356 of 365
Movie Review of Blood Diamond (2006) [R] 138 minutes
WIP™ Scale: (1st Review $14.50 + 2nd Review $14.50) / 2 = $14.50
Where Viewed: Colorado Cinemas Cherry Creek 8, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 3 January 2007
Time: 7:50 p.m.
Film's Official Website
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Review Dedicated to: RHJ
Directed by: Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai)
Screenplay by: Charles Leavitt (K-PAX)
Story by: Charles Leavitt and C. Gaby Mitchell
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed) • Djimon Hounsou (The Island) • Jennifer Connelly (Dark Water)
Soundtrack: Download now from 
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
NOTE:This is a spoiler review for Blood Diamond. If you prefer to read the non-spoiler review first, click here.
As per tradition, the very first question to be asked and dispatched upon returning from a second viewing of a film is "Does it hold up?". In the case of Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond, the answer is a profoundly solemn "definitely". Blood Diamond is a very, very big film delving deeply into the history of imperial pillaging of the continent's resources, colonial rule, tribal wars, revolutions, and genocide. It brings to light the work of honest people trying to repair the damage in what must seem like a continuously hopeless battle. The very plight of average people trying simply to live their lives and raise their children in peaceful harmony in conflict zones over resources they do not even understand is painted with vivid detail. Meanwhile, in its choice of main characters, the film takes on the complex, intertwined stories of two men: one white and one black who, through their association, learn a most powerful and compelling lesson of brotherhood when their shared purpose yields unexpected results. These two men serve to represent each a contrasting mindset as well as historical perspectives archetypal in their nature yet historically significant in the mental burdens they bear.
"Blood Diamond is a very, very big film…"
First, there is Solomon Vandy played brilliantly by Djimon Hounsou. As you watch him build his character of a simple fisherman, a proud descendent of the Mende Tribe, from the feet up to the top of his forceful brow, notice the strength of his physical presence is matched equally by the strength of his convictions for truth. He is the father of three children: a son Dia (Kagiso Kuypers) and two daughters. He is a loving husband to his wife. He works hard so that Dia can go to school, and he dreams that Dia will grow up to become a doctor to help his people. His values of love for family and honor never waver despite what will become brutal and lethal consequences for him. When forced to lie and say that he is a cameraman traveling with two white journalists later in the film on the journey to find his lost son, he struggles painfully to utter the words and tell the lie. While he may not be savvy to the customs and lifestyles of the western world, he detects instantly that his counterparts can and will say anything to get what they want. This represents a needle in his mind as he tries hard to comprehend how the nature of a man could become so twisted away from that which is just and right. Solomon's life is shattered one peaceful day as he walked Dia home from school learning from his son that their nation of Sierra Leone will some day be a paradise. Rebels of the United Front in their jeeps with machine guns enter their quiet village on a murderous rampage. The general in charge of the rebels is on a mission to spread horror for those who might vote in the upcoming election. His men slaughter as many people as possible, and those that remain face witnessing their hands being chopped off. "No hands, no voting," he smiles as he says. Solomon's family escapes with many other women and children, but Solomon is captured and about to have his hands removed when the general realizes he cannot mine diamonds without hands and spares him to the diamond mining camp. It is there that he discovers a 100+ caret, clear pink diamond and manages to bury it in a hidden location just as government troops overrun the camp capturing everyone in sight and sending them all straight to prison.
His counterpart and future brother is Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio). At age 9, Danny watched his mother raped and killed and his father decapitated and hung on a hook in the barn by insurgents who took over Rhodesia and restored power to the indigenous people removing all whites from the nation that would come to then be called Zimbabwe. Danny was moved to South Africa where he joined an army of fighters, black and white, seeking to right the wrongs of Africa and led by Colonel Coetzee (Arnold Vosloo). The Colonel became his father figure, his mentor, and his guide. It was here he learned how to smuggle diamonds and use the funds to buy arms to sell to rebels and earn a living. At age 31, he wants nothing more that to out of Africa—a continent to which he refers as God forsaken. On a trip to Liberia with diamonds hidden between the layers of flesh of goats in a herd he's escorting across the border, Danny is apprehended and accused of smuggling by troops of the government of Sierra Leone. In prison, he hears a blasphemous rebel general tell of a giant pink diamond discovered by Solomon Vandy. Solomon denies it all in a particularly shocking performance where it is clear his values of truth are being challenged as he knows inside that the diamond could be the ticket to the recovery of his family.
Danny's sidekick gets him out of prison, and he uses the cash from the sale of a diamond stored in a hollow fake tooth of his own to get Solomon out of prison. Eventually, the two are reunited when Solomon tries everything under the sun to locate his family to no avail. Danny realizes an American Journalist named Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) can help him find Solomon's family. So, he approaches Solomon with an idea, he'll help Solomon find his family if he'll help Danny find the diamond. In the meantime, the General has gotten out of prison and captured Dia from the countryside where the women and children have been hiding. He takes many young boys and uses drugs and guns to turn them into infant soldiers. In particular, he knows that Solomon will try to come for his son at which point he will have leverage over him to give up the diamond.
Maddy is in the mess so that she can get Danny to give up information that will help her to prove that the British company Van de Kamp is trading in blood diamonds despite their public position on the matter. So, she agrees to help find Solomon's family. She is able to locate his wife and two daughters at a refugee camp in Guinea of over 1 million people. Unfortunately, the government is not willing to release the refugees until the conflicts within Sierra Leone are over. So, they return in hopes of finding Dia who turns out not to be at the camp and the diamond.
At this point, the film takes on a rapid and frenetic pace. Maddy and Danny start to fall in love, Solomon's determination to find his son grows like a forrest fire, and the three become a force in working toward their separate yet related goals. They encounter rebel fighters, government troops, and even the dark sides of their own characters in this pursuit. Eventually, Maddy is evacuated as the government has hired Colonel Coetzee's men to come in and destroy the rebel uprising and ordered all women and children from the region. Danny and Solomon flee the evacuation zone with supplies in hand to seek out Solomon's son and recover the diamond. No sooner are they on their way, then Danny's conflicted soul starts to take over. His ego becomes Solomon's master, and for him it becomes all about the diamond. His blood lust for it overwhelms the bond he has formed with Solomon.
His counterpart and future brother is Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio). At age 9, Danny watched his mother raped and killed and his father decapitated and hung on a hook in the barn by insurgents who took over Rhodesia and restored power to the indigenous people removing all whites from the nation that would come to then be called Zimbabwe. Danny was moved to South Africa where he joined an army of fighters, black and white, seeking to right the wrongs of Africa and led by Colonel Coetzee (Arnold Vosloo). The Colonel became his father figure, his mentor, and his guide. It was here he learned how to smuggle diamonds and use the funds to buy arms to sell to rebels and earn a living. At age 31, he wants nothing more that to out of Africa—a continent to which he refers as God forsaken. On a trip to Liberia with diamonds hidden between the layers of flesh of goats in a herd he's escorting across the border, Danny is apprehended and accused of smuggling by troops of the government of Sierra Leone. In prison, he hears a blasphemous rebel general tell of a giant pink diamond discovered by Solomon Vandy. Solomon denies it all in a particularly shocking performance where it is clear his values of truth are being challenged as he knows inside that the diamond could be the ticket to the recovery of his family.
Danny's sidekick gets him out of prison, and he uses the cash from the sale of a diamond stored in a hollow fake tooth of his own to get Solomon out of prison. Eventually, the two are reunited when Solomon tries everything under the sun to locate his family to no avail. Danny realizes an American Journalist named Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) can help him find Solomon's family. So, he approaches Solomon with an idea, he'll help Solomon find his family if he'll help Danny find the diamond. In the meantime, the General has gotten out of prison and captured Dia from the countryside where the women and children have been hiding. He takes many young boys and uses drugs and guns to turn them into infant soldiers. In particular, he knows that Solomon will try to come for his son at which point he will have leverage over him to give up the diamond.
Maddy is in the mess so that she can get Danny to give up information that will help her to prove that the British company Van de Kamp is trading in blood diamonds despite their public position on the matter. So, she agrees to help find Solomon's family. She is able to locate his wife and two daughters at a refugee camp in Guinea of over 1 million people. Unfortunately, the government is not willing to release the refugees until the conflicts within Sierra Leone are over. So, they return in hopes of finding Dia who turns out not to be at the camp and the diamond.
At this point, the film takes on a rapid and frenetic pace. Maddy and Danny start to fall in love, Solomon's determination to find his son grows like a forrest fire, and the three become a force in working toward their separate yet related goals. They encounter rebel fighters, government troops, and even the dark sides of their own characters in this pursuit. Eventually, Maddy is evacuated as the government has hired Colonel Coetzee's men to come in and destroy the rebel uprising and ordered all women and children from the region. Danny and Solomon flee the evacuation zone with supplies in hand to seek out Solomon's son and recover the diamond. No sooner are they on their way, then Danny's conflicted soul starts to take over. His ego becomes Solomon's master, and for him it becomes all about the diamond. His blood lust for it overwhelms the bond he has formed with Solomon.
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They engage in a particularly ugly altercation resulting in a knock down fight when he calls Solomon a 'Kaffir' with all of the hate and ugliness the word had come to signify under colonial rule. Later, when Solomon nearly gets them killed by the rebels when he yells out to a jeep load of young infantry men who then try to shoot them up in the bushes because he things he sees his son, Danny threatens to peel off his face in a most horrifying and loathsome way if he ever puts Danny's life in such danger again. It is at this point, that the brutal depths to which his tortured soul has sunken come through. The diamond lust has taken full form. Breaking that lust won't come until later when Coetzee's troups capture the diamond mine, Danny and Solomon recover Dia and the diamond, and they are fleeing on foot to an airstrip to meet up with Danny's pilot. Along the way, Danny gets shot and the wound punctures a lung. Try as he might, he is getting weaker and weaker. Solomon picks him up and carries him on his back for a while, but the pain deepens with every step. As Danny can see the writing on the wall, he was born of the blood-red earth of Africa and he will die spilling his blood back into it, he demands that Solomon put him down. Then he gives Solomon back the diamond and instructs him to go to the plane, not to trust the pilot, and take his son to freedom. It is a moment where, at last, his conscience has come full circle and Maddy's words about any one person doing the right thing come through. He once said to her, "I often wonder if God will forgive us for what we have done to each other. And then I realize that God left this place long ago." Here is his chance at forgiveness. He stays behind with a machine gun to keep the Colonel's troops from catching Solomon and Dia. When he sees the plane sail off into the distance, he pulls out his Satellite phone and calls Maddy to ask her one last favor. He needs her to meet up with Solomon and then to help him sell the diamond to Van de Kamp. She knows he's dying, but she too must put her romantic interests aside and focus on the larger good. If she executes the plan properly, she will be able to help Solomon recover his family and live a life of wealth and fortune forever while, at the same time, blow the whistle on the covert conflict diamond purchases that are financing the bloody wars she so despises. There is an opportunity to do so much good if she plays the cards right, listens to Danny, and helps Solomon. It's an ending that may seem all too convenient to some, but after all of this history and bloodshed, it was a welcome one.
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Other Projects Featuring Blood Diamond (2006)
Cast Members
Leonardo DiCaprio
• Djimon Hounsou • Jennifer ConnellyDirector
Edward Zwick
Screen Writer
Charles Leavitt
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Blood Diamond (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Edward Zwick's controversial new film Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou brings to light in a raw and horrifying way the underbelly of the blood diamond trade in Sierra Leone during a time of civil war. The film is really about the character of a man being smelted from the molten metal in his veins and choices that will determine if, in the end, he is brilliant, malleable, and regal like gold or brittle and bitter like aged tin. Both DiCaprio and Hounsou are incredible. Give Zwick immeasurable credit for taking on this incredibly complex, politically unpopular topic with a rich and powerful industry scrambling to ensure they are not negatively impacted by the film's release and producing an exceptionally moving and powerful film.
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