Blood Diamond

by Gregory

Message movies always seem to work better when they're served with healthy doses of excitement and/or humor. As the saying goes, "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down". With Blood Diamond you get a steady supply of action inter-cut with the moralizing. Director Edward Zwick is no stranger to war movies, and he's certainly got the action down to a science at this point, but the message didn't quite resonate for me as much as one imagines they intended. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the message gets lost among the explosions (it's definitely there), but it just didn't really stick with me after I left the theater the way last year's The Constant Gardener did. Both films focus on the exploitation of African people at the hands of Western industry. In many ways the actions and motivations of the diamond companies in Blood Diamond are more reprehensible than Gardener's pharmaceutical companies, while the violence is much more intense, so I'm not sure why the whole thing fell short for me. Perhaps it's because I didn't have any diamond-blood on my hands. I don't own any diamonds and I have never bought one (Ladies, form an orderly queue), so I felt no personal guilt. Or perhaps PR for the real diamond companies has managed a successful damage control to lessen the film's impact. The entire diamond industry has been in a state of panic about the impending release, doing everything they can to get the word out that things have changed quite a bit since the 1999 events of the film (Supposedly the percentage of conflict diamonds sold in the international market is down from 15% to about 1 or 2%). After seeing the finished product though, I don't think they have much to worry about.

The film opens rather peacefully in Sierra Leone showing us Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) and his family. The mood quickly shifts however when the violent Revolutionary United Front (R.U.F.) invades the village and kidnaps Solomon along with others, after shooting enough people to let them know how serious they are. One thing I was very impressed with was how jarring the descent into chaos is. They say there's always a calm before the storm, but it's quite amazing watching the swift escalation depicted here. One gets a clear idea of the fear people must constantly live with in that region. Solomon is taken to work in a diamond-mining field, where he finds an immense pink diamond minutes before the entire crew is arrested. While imprisoned he encounters diamond smuggler, Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) who immediately sees an opportunity to make a fortune. Danny uses his own connections as well as American journalist, Maddy Bowen's (Jennifer Connelly) to get Solomon released and reunited with his family (short one son), and of course in return he expects Solomon to unite him with that hidden diamond. Overall they've got a compelling and believable plot set-up here, but there are some complications along the way that come off as being a little forced. For example Solomon's son working closely with his captors seems a little too coincidental. It is possible this was a calculated move, after all the man claims as much, but I took that as an empty threat when he said it. Either way it just seems far-fetched. The eventual reunion between father and son also comes at a time that leaves you going "What are the chances of that?"

Despite my reservations, the film proves to be in capable hands with Edward Zwick. I'm among the few who considers the filmmaker's last attempt, The Last Samurai, to be an underappreciated gem. While Blood Diamond didn't impress me as much as that film did, it certainly was an enjoyable ride. The battle scenes are all very well executed, particularly the air strike toward the end of the film, which stands among the best action sequences of the year. It's not quite Black Hawk Down, but it will do. Another touch I liked was the scene at the bar with President Clinton talking about the Starr Investigations on the television, as Maddy remarks, "All anyone in America cares about is Blowjobgate". 1999 seems so recent and yet I don't remember much at all regarding the conflict in Sierra Leone (I've since taken a greater interest in world events), but the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal is still fresh in my mind. I can't speak for everyone else, but I thought this scene did an effective job of placing the events of the film in context by saying "This is what you were paying attention to while these things were happening."

The acting in the film is pretty solid all around, but I don't think any of the performances in the film from the principle cast will go down as the actors' signature performances (read: Don't expect any Oscar nods). After the early trailers hit a lot of people were giggling over Leo's accent (I know "In America it's bling bling but out here it's bling bang" became a recurring catch phrase among my friends). I figured it would sound better in context and for the most part it does, but there are a couple times in the film where he seems to invoke Jar Jar Binks. It's generally accepted that Leonardo DiCaprio is one of his generation's best actors, and he does good work here, but if you really want to see the man cut loose on a role, I'd direct you toward The Departed instead. Similarly Jennifer Connelly is solid as Maddy, but nothing she did in the film really struck me the way she has in other films. I suppose it didn't help that I didn't really like her character, the bleeding heart journalist who wants to help except when she's given an opportunity to do so. Djimon Hounsou is probably the most effective of the leads, but he seemed underutilized to me. His is the primary conflict of the film, but he's relegated to a supporting part while the two more recognizable faces get most of the screen-time. It's pretty much a mixed bag all around. If the subject matter interests you, check it out. Otherwise, wait for the DVD.