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Set in Sierra Leone in the late ‘90s, Blood Diamond tells the story of the battle for diamonds in Africa—and the effect it has on an innocent fisherman, a money-hungry smuggler, and an American reporter.
Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is the fisherman—a husband and father of three who works to ensure that his children will have a better life than he did. The diamond trade means nothing to him—until he’s captured by rebels and forced to work in a diamond mine.
Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a diamond smuggler from Zimbabwe. His job is to trade the rebels’ diamonds for weapons and smuggle the diamonds across the border. From there, they’re processed and moved around and, eventually, end up in stores, where buyers pay way too much money for them.
The reporter is Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), who’s traveled to Africa to report on the illegal trade of conflict diamonds—and her research takes her right to Danny.
After Danny’s caught smuggling and Solomon’s mining camp is invaded by government troops, both men end up in the same prison. Word spreads that Solomon found a huge pink diamond and hid it before he was captured—and Danny’s determined to get his hands on the diamond, which will make him enough money to get out of Africa and his increasingly dangerous job. So he gets Solomon out of prison and promises to help him find his family back—in return for the diamond. Then he tries to get Maddy to use her connections and pull some strings.
Though it isn’t exactly an uplifting holiday movie, Blood Diamond is, without a doubt, a memorable film. The story has some standard themes—the rich taking advantage of the poor, the poor father trying to save his family, the selfish guy who might just learn to think about someone other than himself—but it’s all played out well. The characters alone will keep you interested—because you’ll feel for Solomon (thanks, in part, to Hounsou’s spectacular performance), and you’ll never really quite know which way Danny will go in the end.
The film could have easily been about a half-hour shorter, but the story still manages to be suspenseful and action-packed. It’s definitely violent, but, unlike many of the films I’ve seen recently, the violence feels necessary to get the point across—and it’s not overdone (I’m talking to you here, Mel Gibson).
This probably isn’t the movie you want to watch if you were planning on hitting the jewelry stores this Christmas to buy a little bling for the one you love, but Blood Diamond is a powerful film that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
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