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Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou
Directed by: Edward Zwick
BBFC 15
Blood Diamond is set in Sierra Leone on the African Continent in 1999 towards the end of a bloody civil war raging between the R.U.F. and Sierra Leone's own Government Forces over who will end up controlling the country's resources, including their extensive diamond mines.
Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a former South African mercenary turned diamond smuggler who winds up in jail, whilst Soloman Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is a Mende fisherman who is first captured by R.U.F. troops, put to work in a diamond mine, then captured again by Government troops and thrown into the same jail. On top of all this, Solomon's son is captured by R.U.F. troops and goes through the initiations required to turn him into a child soldier. It's what you might call a 'ruf day' if it wasn't all so horrifically real, events like these were happening all the time in Sierra Leone during this turbulent period of modern history.
It's in jail that Danny Archer hears about the diamond that Soloman Vandy discovered and hid shortly before he was captured, and so the story unfolds, Danny in search of the diamond as his ticket out of Africa and Solomon in search of his son, and both of them getting help from Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), a reporter trying to expose diamond industry's involvment in keeping the war going to keep the price of diamonds artificially high.
Whilst the storyline is eventually quite (but not totally) predictable, Edward Zwick (who directed The Last Samurai) is at the helm, so you'll get some idea of the atrocities commited by the R.U.F. on its own people as well as some of the brutal fighting that went on when the R.U.F. overran Government troops in Freetown.
DiCaprio's acting ability shines through, particularly when you consider how difficult a South African accent can be to pull off. He also seems to have 'beefed' himself up a little to better portray his role as a former mercenary. Djimon Hounsou, whose best work I personally think was in Gladiator, proves that he can play not just a warrior but a loving father. Both actors received Academy Award Nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the 2007 Oscars, and deservedly so.
Jennifer Connelly's mesmerising eyes will keep you captivated, and there's good chemistry between her and DiCaprio, as well as some great dialogue that you need to keep track of because towards the end of the movie some of it is repeated with a whole new layer of meaning when Danny Archer and Maddy Bowen communicate by sat-phone.
Overall, it's not a feel good movie, more of a rollercoaster ride through a wartorn country highlighting the plight of its population who suffered tremendously during the civil war. It also works on you subconsciously, the next time you're thinking of an engagement ring you'll definitely want to know the origin of the diamonds used in its construction. Finally you'll know more about child soldiers and what they get up to than you really want to.
So great film with heartwarming characters, but some pretty violent scenes which, when you remember that this is a fictional movie based around historically accurate events, might leave a bitter aftertaste.
I'll give it 8/10
1 point deducted for the bitter aftertaste, 1 point for the scene with a child soldier holding a GBA SP (which wasn't released until 2003).
Directed by: Edward Zwick
BBFC 15
Blood Diamond is set in Sierra Leone on the African Continent in 1999 towards the end of a bloody civil war raging between the R.U.F. and Sierra Leone's own Government Forces over who will end up controlling the country's resources, including their extensive diamond mines.
Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a former South African mercenary turned diamond smuggler who winds up in jail, whilst Soloman Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is a Mende fisherman who is first captured by R.U.F. troops, put to work in a diamond mine, then captured again by Government troops and thrown into the same jail. On top of all this, Solomon's son is captured by R.U.F. troops and goes through the initiations required to turn him into a child soldier. It's what you might call a 'ruf day' if it wasn't all so horrifically real, events like these were happening all the time in Sierra Leone during this turbulent period of modern history.
It's in jail that Danny Archer hears about the diamond that Soloman Vandy discovered and hid shortly before he was captured, and so the story unfolds, Danny in search of the diamond as his ticket out of Africa and Solomon in search of his son, and both of them getting help from Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), a reporter trying to expose diamond industry's involvment in keeping the war going to keep the price of diamonds artificially high.
Whilst the storyline is eventually quite (but not totally) predictable, Edward Zwick (who directed The Last Samurai) is at the helm, so you'll get some idea of the atrocities commited by the R.U.F. on its own people as well as some of the brutal fighting that went on when the R.U.F. overran Government troops in Freetown.
DiCaprio's acting ability shines through, particularly when you consider how difficult a South African accent can be to pull off. He also seems to have 'beefed' himself up a little to better portray his role as a former mercenary. Djimon Hounsou, whose best work I personally think was in Gladiator, proves that he can play not just a warrior but a loving father. Both actors received Academy Award Nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the 2007 Oscars, and deservedly so.
Jennifer Connelly's mesmerising eyes will keep you captivated, and there's good chemistry between her and DiCaprio, as well as some great dialogue that you need to keep track of because towards the end of the movie some of it is repeated with a whole new layer of meaning when Danny Archer and Maddy Bowen communicate by sat-phone.
Overall, it's not a feel good movie, more of a rollercoaster ride through a wartorn country highlighting the plight of its population who suffered tremendously during the civil war. It also works on you subconsciously, the next time you're thinking of an engagement ring you'll definitely want to know the origin of the diamonds used in its construction. Finally you'll know more about child soldiers and what they get up to than you really want to.
So great film with heartwarming characters, but some pretty violent scenes which, when you remember that this is a fictional movie based around historically accurate events, might leave a bitter aftertaste.
I'll give it 8/10
1 point deducted for the bitter aftertaste, 1 point for the scene with a child soldier holding a GBA SP (which wasn't released until 2003).
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Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou
Directed by: Edward Zwick
BBFC 15
Blood Diamond is set in Sierra Leone on the African Continent in 1999 towards the end of a bloody civil war raging between the R.U.F. and Sierra Leone's own Government Forces over who will end up controlling the country's resources, including their extensive diamond mines.
Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a former South African mercenary turned diamond smuggler who winds up in jail, whilst Soloman Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is a Mende fisherman who is first captured by R.U.F. troops, put to work in a diamond mine, then captured again by Government troops and thrown into the same jail. On top of all this, Solomon's son is captured by R.U.F. troops and goes through the initiations required to turn him into a child soldier. It's what you might call a 'ruf day' if it wasn't all so horrifically real, events like these were happening all the time in Sierra Leone during this turbulent period of modern history.
It's in jail that Danny Archer hears about the diamond that Soloman Vandy discovered and hid shortly before he was captured, and so the story unfolds, Danny in search of the diamond as his ticket out of Africa and Solomon in search of his son, and both of them getting help from Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), a reporter trying to expose diamond industry's involvment in keeping the war going to keep the price of diamonds artificially high.
Whilst the storyline is eventually quite (but not totally) predictable, Edward Zwick (who directed The Last Samurai) is at the helm, so you'll get some idea of the atrocities commited by the R.U.F. on its own people as well as some of the brutal fighting that went on when the R.U.F. overran Government troops in Freetown.
DiCaprio's acting ability shines through, particularly when you consider how difficult a South African accent can be to pull off. He also seems to have 'beefed' himself up a little to better portray his role as a former mercenary. Djimon Hounsou, whose best work I personally think was in Gladiator, proves that he can play not just a warrior but a loving father. Both actors received Academy Award Nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the 2007 Oscars, and deservedly so.
Jennifer Connelly's mesmerising eyes will keep you captivated, and there's good chemistry between her and DiCaprio, as well as some great dialogue that you need to keep track of because towards the end of the movie some of it is repeated with a whole new layer of meaning when Danny Archer and Maddy Bowen communicate by sat-phone.
Overall, it's not a feel good movie, more of a rollercoaster ride through a wartorn country highlighting the plight of its population who suffered tremendously during the civil war. It also works on you subconsciously, the next time you're thinking of an engagement ring you'll definitely want to know the origin of the diamonds used in its construction. Finally you'll know more about child soldiers and what they get up to than you really want to.
So great film with heartwarming characters, but some pretty violent scenes which, when you remember that this is a fictional movie based around historically accurate events, might leave a bitter aftertaste.
I'll give it 8/10
1 point deducted for the bitter aftertaste, 1 point for the scene with a child soldier holding a GBA SP (which wasn't released until 2003).
Directed by: Edward Zwick
BBFC 15
Blood Diamond is set in Sierra Leone on the African Continent in 1999 towards the end of a bloody civil war raging between the R.U.F. and Sierra Leone's own Government Forces over who will end up controlling the country's resources, including their extensive diamond mines.
Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a former South African mercenary turned diamond smuggler who winds up in jail, whilst Soloman Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is a Mende fisherman who is first captured by R.U.F. troops, put to work in a diamond mine, then captured again by Government troops and thrown into the same jail. On top of all this, Solomon's son is captured by R.U.F. troops and goes through the initiations required to turn him into a child soldier. It's what you might call a 'ruf day' if it wasn't all so horrifically real, events like these were happening all the time in Sierra Leone during this turbulent period of modern history.
It's in jail that Danny Archer hears about the diamond that Soloman Vandy discovered and hid shortly before he was captured, and so the story unfolds, Danny in search of the diamond as his ticket out of Africa and Solomon in search of his son, and both of them getting help from Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), a reporter trying to expose diamond industry's involvment in keeping the war going to keep the price of diamonds artificially high.
Whilst the storyline is eventually quite (but not totally) predictable, Edward Zwick (who directed The Last Samurai) is at the helm, so you'll get some idea of the atrocities commited by the R.U.F. on its own people as well as some of the brutal fighting that went on when the R.U.F. overran Government troops in Freetown.
DiCaprio's acting ability shines through, particularly when you consider how difficult a South African accent can be to pull off. He also seems to have 'beefed' himself up a little to better portray his role as a former mercenary. Djimon Hounsou, whose best work I personally think was in Gladiator, proves that he can play not just a warrior but a loving father. Both actors received Academy Award Nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the 2007 Oscars, and deservedly so.
Jennifer Connelly's mesmerising eyes will keep you captivated, and there's good chemistry between her and DiCaprio, as well as some great dialogue that you need to keep track of because towards the end of the movie some of it is repeated with a whole new layer of meaning when Danny Archer and Maddy Bowen communicate by sat-phone.
Overall, it's not a feel good movie, more of a rollercoaster ride through a wartorn country highlighting the plight of its population who suffered tremendously during the civil war. It also works on you subconsciously, the next time you're thinking of an engagement ring you'll definitely want to know the origin of the diamonds used in its construction. Finally you'll know more about child soldiers and what they get up to than you really want to.
So great film with heartwarming characters, but some pretty violent scenes which, when you remember that this is a fictional movie based around historically accurate events, might leave a bitter aftertaste.
I'll give it 8/10
1 point deducted for the bitter aftertaste, 1 point for the scene with a child soldier holding a GBA SP (which wasn't released until 2003).