Blood Diamond

Family. Separation. Sacrifice. Betrayal. All common themes in many movies in all different genres. However, few movies can claim this level of realism nor can claim a subject that is based on a true experience that is occurring as we speak. Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond focuses on the diamond trade and civil war in Sierra Leone, with a specific look at three people involved in three very different ways. Djimon Hounsou plays Soloman Vandy, a fisherman taken from his village when it is attacked and he is forced to work in the diamond mines. It becomes his mission to find his family by any means necessary. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Danny Archer, a South African smuggler whose mission is to find the ultimate diamond that will get set him up for life and get him off the continent of Africa. Jennifer Connelly plays Maddy Bowen, an American journalist whose mission it is to find and publish viable facts about the diamond industry that will make the world stand up and make an effort to put a stop to it. The two male leads stand out with very emotionally taxing roles. DiCaprio dons a South African accent and demeanor to match, which, along with his honest but not slimy portrayal of a man out for money shows his ability as an excellent actor. Hounsou as well demonstrates his versatility. While playing the poor, ideally "simple" African peasant, Hounsou still manages to demonstrate real strength, intelligence, passion, and value. This is contrary to many other films where the subject matter is supposedly that of "real" Africa yet the most important and developed characters are white Africans or white Westerners, with black Africans playing either the servants or silly proteges of the main stars.
Filming-wise, it was even more intense than I expected. I knew going into it that a film about the civil wars of Sierra Leone and diamond smuggling would be intense, however there was even less "downtime" than I expected, with non-stop action. Action in the sense of not just violence, but of movement, and major events, with few backward and forward from subplots to the main plot. While this film would ideally be one to heighten awareness of African troubles, as in the strain of Hotel Rwanda, I'm not sure if this will do it. In fact, I'm not sure how many more films or indeed how many more actual conflicts, diseases, coups, and natural disasters it will take for people to actually start caring.