Well the name “Blood Diamond” sounded a bit 007ish to me . Also I didn’t like Edward Zwick’s previous flick “The Last Samurai” . Well that was an well executed one . But the very idea of the Yankee turning into a suicidal samurai just couldn’t convince me .Anyway after looking at the Oscar nominations it got , I decided to watch Blood Diamond . It was running houseful & I had to struggle for the ticket . Finally I managed one & entered the packed hall . Coming back to the movie , let me introduce the characters first .
Danny Archer (Leonardo Dicaprio) is a diamond smuggler & he’ll do anything for his diamonds . Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is a poor fisherman somewhere in Sierra Leone living with his family peacefully & dreaming to educate his son & make him a Doctor . Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) is a journalist who has a affinity towards war prone zones & has been to Afghanistan & Bosnia before landing in Sierra Leone .The film starts with the story of Solomon . Suddenly tragedy strikes the family in the form of Revolutionary United Force (RUF) rebels . They attack the village slaughter the poor villagers chops of hands of some & take some of them including Solomon to work in Diamond mining camp .
So he loses track of his family . But one day he finds a piece of rare pink diamond while working at the camp . The rebel leader gets to know & as he was about to shoot him & grab the diamond , government forces strike the camp . He quickly buries the diamond & then all of them were imprisoned & taken to Freetown , the capital city . On the other hand Danny is also in the same jail for charges of Diamond smuggling . He learns about the Pink diamond that only Solomon has . So he strikes a deal with him , offering to help him in finding his family in exchange of the diamond . So these two men embark on a journey in civil war torn dangerous terrains of Africa in search of their respective goals .
They take Maddy along as she is a journalist & could help them in clearing check posts with her contacts . Maddy agrees to help them as she was getting a very good story for her magazine . The rest , I would not like to describe in detail as it would become a spoiler . Only thing I can say is that it becomes an engrossing adventure till they reach their destinations .In the end the Vandy family is united & their story becomes known worldwide . Maddy also exposes the dirty side of sparkling diamond trade .But Danny fails to make it even after getting the priceless diamond . But he helps Solomon & his son get away from the mercenaries before breathing his last .
(Well I shouldn’t have explained this much ! It’ll spoil the party for many ! Sorry for that !)Now coming to the technical aspects , all the three lead actors delivers knock out performances . Dicaprio , whom I hated so much in Titanic , again shows that he is no more the chocolate hero . My faith in him consolidates further after the last three Scorsese movies (Gangs of New York , Aviator & Departed) . Djimon Hounsou in the other hand , has been my favourite since I watched his “Give us Free…..” act in Amistad . These two have deservingly got Oscar nominations .
Jennifer Connelly also delivers as expected . She’s beautiful & she acts well . She’s a complete package ! Direction of Zwick is flawless & he is ably assisted by a tight script . Sound effects & cinematography are also good enough to keep you spellbound .The movie shows how poor native Africans are always exploited whenever any valuable commodity is found there . I also shows how children are used by terrorist outfits . But having said all these , I must say that It doesn’t become as great as “Hotel Rwanda” . That one took us deeper into the plights of Rwandan Civil War victims . Compared to that , this one seems a bit superficial . That is why Solomon Vandy doesn’t become Paul Rusesebagina ! But still I must recommend this movie . It is one of the best movies of the year .