Blood Diamond

by John C.

How could there be a place on this Earth, so ripe with beauty and life, that is also home to so much death and violence? While the action quota is certainly met, I feel that the aforementioned question is what drives Edward Zwick's latest directorial effort, Blood Diamond. Set in the late 90's in Sierra Leone, this action thriller tells the story of an African man (Hansou), who is separated from his family after being captured and forced into labor as a diamond miner by the R.U.F. (Revolutionary United Front - a rebellious anti-government group in Africa). Accompanying this plot line is the story of the titular "blood diamond", a large, pink rock found in the mines by Hansou's character and the smuggler (DiCaprio) who makes it his quest to find it. These men clash in a world where children are trained to kill and people suffer over the trade of small shiny rocks - a situation that people brush off with the phrase, "T.I.A." or "This is Africa."

What Zwick does best in this film is divide themes and issues throughout the interwoven story, which allows him to convey the message without driving it down your throat. Clearly, political topics are at hand, as the message (as literally displayed in writing at the end) is that around the world people are dying so that large corporations can buy, sell, and distribute luxury items such as diamonds. While this subject is obviously the point of the film, it is not force fed to the audience in overabundance. There are only two brief scenes of political councils and the message at the end. Otherwise, the message is seamlessly woven into the subtext of the dialogue and into the action.

Djimon Hansou shines as a husband and father of two, that during a village raid, is taken away from his family to mine for diamonds in Sierra Leone. This statement is nothing new, as Hansou steals the spotlight in most any film you find him in, no matter how small the role or how disappointing the film (i.e. The Island). Through the loss of his family, specifically his son, his character displays the idea of what family means in a world that is more concerned with money than life. Balancing out this idea is Leonardo DiCaprio's character, whose main concern is monetary stability and the thought of changing one's status in life. Once again, DiCaprio shows his versatility, and warrants his casting in most any film made today. He displays an acting confidence that few young actors show after achieving fame and fortune from one blockbuster film (Titanic). The balance of these two characters splits the ideas of money and wealth versus that of life, love and family. The intermediary between the two comes in the form of a journalist, played by Jennifer Connolly, who links the two seemingly incompatible personalities in the quest to find the missing boy and the diamond. This is the one area where the film falters, however, forcing Connolly and DiCaprio into a contrived romance that in no way furthers the story. What Zwick wants you to see is DiCaprio's character finding someone in a life that currently has him alone and desperate, however this can be done through friendship or even just a chance meeting, without the idea of having a sexual attraction in a scenario that feels forced or ill timed. With or without the obligatory romance, the acting still drives the film, with award worthy performances from both Hansou and DiCaprio.

Cinematically, Zwick remains the icon visual director that he is, ranking amongst the best directors in the world when it comes to portraying the world's beauty. Not unlike his last film, The Last Samurai, we find ourselves enraptured in the serene beauty of, in this case, Africa, as we are transported into it. In a film that begs for one to see what is happening in a place like this today, Zwick must make you fall in love with that place with everything you have in you. Whether it is through his sweeping helicopter shots, or a simple shot of diamonds in the mud, Zwick does this flawlessly. His attention for natural beauty puts him in a league with few others - Terrence Malick to name one.

In the end however, it is the message that remains. While this film may focus on the violence and war involved with the diamond industry, it parallels problems that occur everyday globally. It may seem like an action flick, but Blood Diamond is a social commentary at heart - one that reminds us that it isn't just "T.I.A." but instead, "T.I.W.", this is our world.