Blood Diamond
Eager at the chance to avoid slumping in the couch watching TV, entertaining and all as it can be, I seized the opportunity to see 'Blood Diamond', starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly at the Tralee Omniplex.
The title of the film 'Blood Diamond' refers to the diamonds that are illegally mined in parts of Africa and then sold around the world in order to fund bloody civil wars on African soil. Also known as conflict diamonds, the lucrative trade in these precious gems has led to murder and misery on a massive scale.
'Blood Diamond' is directed by Ed Zwick and depicts the unrelenting apocalyptic violence of civil war as graphically as only a multimillion-dollar Hollywood production can.
"Yet another Hollywood war movie?" you might say. Well, I wouldn't dismiss this one so quickly. Firstly, it highlights the plight of child soldiers (of which there are some 200,000 in Africa today). It was both sobering and enlightening to see this dark representation of the cruel way that young boys (and more rarely girls) are captured and brainwashed in order to turn them into military machines from the age of 5 upwards.
Djimon Hounsou plays Solomon, whose young son is forced to be a soldier. His paternal anguish over his son's ordeal and refusal to abandon him is touching. He is extremely impressive in a scene with DiCaprio in which he insists on his responsibility to try to rescue the boy from his rebel army captors.
Leonardo DiCaprio gives a remarkable performance as tough-as-nails-but-occasionally-tender diamond smuggler Danny Archer. He was nominated for Best Actor at last month's Oscars but didn't win. This was not his first time being disappointed as he was also previously nominated for Best Actor for his role as Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator". No doubt with his calibre, there'll be plenty more chances.
Jennifer Connelly stars as journalist Maddy Bowen whose conviction and sense of justice touches the heart of the hard-bitten Archer. Connelly's glowing screen presence and her character's coolly intelligent persona make for very nice chemistry between her and DiCaprio. Yet the good thing is that Connelly herself was actually a bona fide card-carrying member of Amnesty International for years before 'Blood Diamond' was made.
'Blood Diamond' is packaged as an action thriller but it also conveys a political message about the dreadful suffering caused in wars fuelled by conflict diamonds, and specifically during the Sierra Leone civil war (1991 - 2000). Conflict diamonds are no longer a problem in Sierra Leone but, according to Amnesty, remain a problem elsewhere. This film is highly recommended. See it in the cinema or on DVD.
The title of the film 'Blood Diamond' refers to the diamonds that are illegally mined in parts of Africa and then sold around the world in order to fund bloody civil wars on African soil. Also known as conflict diamonds, the lucrative trade in these precious gems has led to murder and misery on a massive scale.
'Blood Diamond' is directed by Ed Zwick and depicts the unrelenting apocalyptic violence of civil war as graphically as only a multimillion-dollar Hollywood production can.
"Yet another Hollywood war movie?" you might say. Well, I wouldn't dismiss this one so quickly. Firstly, it highlights the plight of child soldiers (of which there are some 200,000 in Africa today). It was both sobering and enlightening to see this dark representation of the cruel way that young boys (and more rarely girls) are captured and brainwashed in order to turn them into military machines from the age of 5 upwards.
Djimon Hounsou plays Solomon, whose young son is forced to be a soldier. His paternal anguish over his son's ordeal and refusal to abandon him is touching. He is extremely impressive in a scene with DiCaprio in which he insists on his responsibility to try to rescue the boy from his rebel army captors.
Leonardo DiCaprio gives a remarkable performance as tough-as-nails-but-occasionally-tender diamond smuggler Danny Archer. He was nominated for Best Actor at last month's Oscars but didn't win. This was not his first time being disappointed as he was also previously nominated for Best Actor for his role as Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator". No doubt with his calibre, there'll be plenty more chances.
Jennifer Connelly stars as journalist Maddy Bowen whose conviction and sense of justice touches the heart of the hard-bitten Archer. Connelly's glowing screen presence and her character's coolly intelligent persona make for very nice chemistry between her and DiCaprio. Yet the good thing is that Connelly herself was actually a bona fide card-carrying member of Amnesty International for years before 'Blood Diamond' was made.
'Blood Diamond' is packaged as an action thriller but it also conveys a political message about the dreadful suffering caused in wars fuelled by conflict diamonds, and specifically during the Sierra Leone civil war (1991 - 2000). Conflict diamonds are no longer a problem in Sierra Leone but, according to Amnesty, remain a problem elsewhere. This film is highly recommended. See it in the cinema or on DVD.
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