At one point in "Blood Diamond," American journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) says the civil war in the African country Sierra Leone is "like a fucking infomercial." You know the infomercials, the "for the price of a cup of coffee a day" type commercials, filled with images of gaunt children running around in filth with flies on their faces. Just add guns and diamonds and this is the basic premise of "Blood Diamond."
Despite all of its ham-heavy images and overly emotional speeches, "Blood Diamond" works at creating an interesting genre-blend, and it evokes strong feelings in the audience — especially for all those who cannot watch a commercial for Christian Children's Fund without having an emotional breakdown.
"Blood Diamond" is set during the devastating Sierra Leone Civil War between the government and a rebel army during the 1990s. It was a time when whole villages were wiped out in a single moment and kidnapped children were brainwashed into becoming murderous soldiers. (While these horrors happened, America was more concerned with the sexual escapades of President Clinton.) During the war, some civilian men were forced into slave labor by the rebels to mine the diamond fields. The diamonds collected were appropriately dubbed "blood diamonds," considering all the blood spilled over them.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Danny Archer, a mercenary who smuggles the diamonds to Liberia so they can be sold legitimately. During a brief stint in jail after getting caught, Archer's life becomes intertwined with Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a man ripped from his family to work in the diamond fields, and who has just hidden a highly valuable diamond. Both have reason to find the diamond. Vandy wishes to find his missing family and leave Africa, while Archer, with less noble intentions, simply wants to trade the stone for a life of luxury. Of course, Archer's intentions become complicated and more honorable as both the men trek through a war-torn land to find the diamond, and as Archer he develops a burgeoning relationship with Maddy Bowen. As an idealistic American journalist, Maddy seeks to uncover the truth about the diamond black market, a feat only obtainable through the help of Archer.
Director Edward Zwick easily links the socially conscious, emotionally touching, do-gooder film with the brutal bloodshed, action-packed fights and romance of a popcorn flick. The audience sees a film that educates the mind and touches the soul, as well as dazzles the eye, through Zwick's balance of a serious film with mainstream film entertainment, creating a movie that anyone could find enjoyable.
Unfortunately, this balance is inconsistent; Zwick almost destroys this equilibrium by creating a sort of conflict in the audience. The focus on some hammy, overly preachy moments — the infomercial moments — sometimes works against the creative flow. While aiming for seriousness, Zwick sometimes creates moments of unintentional humor. Other times viewers are supposed to be appalled by the true-life atrocities inflicted upon the African civilians, but these atrocities are to be also found somewhat entertaining.
Although the film sometimes creates unintentional emotions in the audience, it still has the ability to create genuinely touching moments. The best moments come when Zwick captures the poignant personal plights of the characters, rather than focusing on the history lesson of Sierra Leone.
The biggest problem of all comes from the mixed message of exploitation. The movie condemns the exploitation of the people of Sierra Leone, as well as Archer for taking advantage of Vandy. Of course those beliefs are warranted, but it also appears justifiable to manipulate people if you're an American journalist who just wants to get a story.
Despite problems in direction and script, the audience can easily find something to enjoy if they focus on the strong acting. While the characters' behaviors are somewhat cliché and predictable — we know that Archer and Vandy will have a motive showdown and that Archer will have a change of heart — the great performances by the actors allow for these events and others to be more believable.
DiCaprio makes Archer's actions a little more ambiguous, not to mention that his South African accent is almost spot-on. Connelly and Hounsou approach their predictable and flat characters with such energy that we almost believe they could be real people. Hounsou's performance as a father searching for his family is particularly powerful. Though, the best performance probably comes from David Harewood, playing Captain Poison, one of the leaders of the rebel army. The menace Harewood is able to bring forth in his character is chilling, making Poison all the more frightening and effective.
For all of its problems, "Blood Diamond" is able to survive due to the strong emotional drama, rollercoaster thrill ride and stirring performances. With the lack of recent quality releases, "Blood Diamond" appears to be a gem. The film has the ability to mix genres into a mostly harmonious blend, creating a unique look that works most of the time. While it does shine, with a little more polishing "Diamond" could have truly dazzled.
Grade: 3.5 out of 5
