A Movie Review : Blood Diamond

Blood Diamond, the new film from Edward Zwick ( Glory and The Last Samurai) is an ambitious film that occasionally teeters but never topples under the weight of its subject. Focusing on fictional individual stories connected to the very real problem of "conflict diamonds" originating in Africa, Blood Diamond accepts that any non-African entertainment seeking to talk about the problems of Africa is going to struggle in communicating Africa objectively and in a non-patronizing tone. By choosing not to fight this battle, Blood Diamond succeeds in conveying a clear, compelling narrative with highly important political content without coming across as a political screed with the exception of a single scene, early on, that is so well edited and integrated into Blood Diamond's pacing, it's hard not to forgive the filmmakers. Blood Diamond focuses on Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a man whose family has been ripped apart by the civil war in Sierra Leone. Because he is strong when his village is destroyed he is sent to work at a diamond mine instead of having a hand cut off. His wife and two children escape, but his son, Dia (Caruso Kuypers) is recruited into the RUF's children's army. Vandy soon discovers a massive stone while mining and manages to hide it, and in a raid on the mine escapes only to wind up in prison where he meets Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), a diamond smuggler from the former Rhodesia. As Blood Diamond unfolds Archer and Vandy find themselves in an unlikely alliance because that diamond is what Archer needs to stay alive and Vandy needs to find and rescue his family. Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) plays a reporter who in the name of getting her story on the economics of conflict diamonds and wanting both Archer and his connections, also assists them. Blood Diamond is at its best when operating as a quest film (largely in the second half). I even found myself comparing it to The Lord of the Rings at one point (thing hidden diamond as The Ring and Archer as Boromir) as I watched these two men hike over beautiful landscapes and learn to trust each other even as that trust makes almost no sense in the dangerous world they live in. Also notable about Blood Diamond is the brutality of its portrayal of Sierra Leone's civil war. I love well-made war movies, and am not easily overwhelmed by them (I think Black Hawk Down, notably also taking place in Africa, is a work of genius, and probably the only thing that comes close to what we see here). The world of the child soldiers, which I've read about and see photos of is portrayed deeply and vividly both in its military and social aspects. Among other things, you see children being trained to kill, children being given heroin and brainwashed to the RUF's cause and the children not recruited maimed and shot. The music and design of these scenes is harrowing, and it makes the reality of the child soldiers both more and less comprehensible for its unfortunately accurate extremity. All the performances in Blood Diamond are excellent. Even Leonardo DiCaprio, who I've always felt is a good actor but never has the vocal gravitas to be a figure of any authority in films, does a great job, making us have sympathy for Archer who may do a lot of terrible things but ultimately can't be termed a villain. The play of white and black identities among native Africans is just one of the small fascinating details of this film, brought out by DiCaprio's fine performance and a well built script. Also a standout is Caruso Kuypers as Dia. We see his transformation both in and out of life as a child soldier and it is never once anything but believable -- truly incredible work that is a good match to Hounsou (who is always reliably excellent). My only complaints here are really for Jennifer Connelley as the American journalist, although it's really not he fault - the role isn't written deeply and she's not given much to do. Also, as a former journalist who worked with many a soul with months and years logged in extreme combat zones, I just didn't believe in her (although all the very minor journalists we glimpse briefly seemed right on to me). Inevitably, there is a small love story shoved into this tale between Bowen and Archer. But it's never consummated and doesn't distract from what we actually care about. In the end, it's actually, surprisingly, quite touching. Blood Diamond is a fascinating, if brutal, film, and I highly recommend it. It manages to give an accurate overview of the problem of blood diamonds at both a policy and personal level without ever being preachy or forgetting that as a film its main goal is to tell a story.