Blood Diamond (2006)

Director:

Edward Zwick

Writers (WGA):

Charles Leavitt (screenplay)
Charles Leavitt (story) ...

Release Date:

8 December 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Freedom

Plot:

A fisherman, a smuggler, and a syndicate of businessmen match wits over the possession of a priceless diamond.

Plot Keywords:

Terrorism | Self Dentistry | Child Uses Gun | Shovel | Airfield

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 14 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. May 14	11:05 AM	MAX
Wed. May 14	7:30 PM	MAX
Mon. May 19	10:05 AM	MAX

Cast

Leonardo DiCaprio	...	Danny Archer
Djimon Hounsou	...	Solomon Vandy
Jennifer Connelly	...	Maddy Bowen
Kagiso Kuypers	...	Dia Vandy
Arnold Vosloo	...	Colonel Coetzee
Antony Coleman	...	Cordell Brown
Benu Mabhena	...	Jassie Vandy
Anointing Lukola	...	N'Yanda Vandy
David Harewood	...	Captain Poison
Basil Wallace	...	Benjamin Kapanay
Jimi Mistry	...	Nabil
Michael Sheen	...	Rupert Simmons
Marius Weyers	...	Rudolf Van De Kaap
Stephen Collins	...	Ambassador Walker
Ntare Mwine	...	M'Ed

Also Known As:

Blood Diamond (Germany)
Okavango (USA) (original script title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and language.

Runtime:

143 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

Mende | English | Afrikaans

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Portugal:M/16 | Canada:14A | Malaysia:18PL | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Greece:K-13 | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Netherlands:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Brazil:16 | Germany:16 (bw) | Norway:15 | USA:R (certificate #43118) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-15 | Ireland:15A | New Zealand:R16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | France:-12 | Australia:MA | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, South Africa

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Djimon Hounsou plays Solomon Vandy, a Mende tribesman. In the movie Amistad he plays the role of Cinque, chief of the Mende tribe.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When calling in the air strike on the rebel camp, Archer refers to the attack helicopter as a "Dak-Dak." This did not refer to an attack helicopter, but rather, a DC3 Dakota (hence, the truncation to "Dak"), used in airborne "Fire Force" operations.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Solomon Vandy: Dia. Dia. Don't want to be late.
Dia Vandy: English boys don't go to school every day.

Movie Connections:

References "Baywatch" (1989)

Soundtrack:

Sierra Leone National Anthem

a gritty telling of how many lives your wedding ring cost

Remember how Hotel Rwanda had the idea of "look how terrible things are in Africa, and you're doing nothing to stop it?" Blood Diamond is pretty much the same guilt trip repackaged, except it hits closer to home because the idea isn't that we simply do nothing to stop the blood shed, but we actually support it. If you want to know the how/why, you'll have to see it.

The gist of the story is this: DiCaprio plays a diamond smuggler who overhears about Djimon Hounsou's 100 karat diamond which he buried somewhere in Africa. Before this rock is even introduced to the story we already get the sense that something is horribly wrong in Africa, a resistance group (the RUF) is terrorizing the villages and using slaves to dig for diamonds. DiCaprio's character wants to split the diamond's profit with Hounsou, and in return he'll retrieve Hounsou's family from the KUBs and the refugee camps. There enlies the problem: how to go about doing all this without getting killed.

The violent state of decay depicted is what reminds me of Hotel Rwanda; and I have a feeling that if you liked that film you'll enjoy this one. It's overall message isn't too different. Where it deviates is that this film is much more action packed. When you see characters running through the streets in crossfire it's nothing short of what you'd expect from a World War II movie. It was an overall nice balance between the dialog scenes and action scenes; not to say the dialog was boring at times, there was a lot of tension and the sense of "will this guy betray him? or he betray the other guy instead?" which kept the movie interesting.

Acting wise: good comments all around, although Djimon Hounsou is the shining star in the cast; I think he was a bit more believable of being a refugee who wants his family back more than DiCaprio was of being a suave diamond smuggler. The villain of the film, I forget what his name is so I'll just call him Patchy, for reasons that will become more evident when you see the film: he played a great villain all the way through.

Art wise: the was a bit of a creative dryness when it came to cinematography. Nothing memorable from the soundtrack. No specific scenes that stand out from the rest due to audio editing or whatever. It is what it is. There's nothing specifically artistic about it, but I guess I can live with that because the story and the characters were the center of attention. The last shot of the film is rather nicely composed, but the rest is just sort of bland and blunt- but I guess it helps keep the film realistic.

In short: Blood Diamond did not disappoint. A great story with compelling characters. I think we can expect to see some Oscar Nominations showing up for this film.